As It Is, The Dangerous Summer, Woes, Moose Blood, King Prawn, Guttermouth, Templeton Pek, Astroid Boys, Brutality Will Prevail and The Devil Wears Prada will join the likes of Jimmy Eat World, Taking Back Sunday and more at the festival which takes place in Leeds, Hatfield and Birmingham, from the 26th to the 28th May 2018. More acts will be announced soon.

It should be noted that next year will see the Hatfield site expand to Hatfield Park due to outgrowing its previous home at the University. Tickets are available now and cost either £49 or a £55 option which includes entry into the afterparty. They will be available here.

MAY 2018
26 LEEDS City Centre
27 HATFIELD Hatfield Park
28 BIRMINGHAM NEC

The band released the following statement via their Facebook page.

First up are Canterbury emo band, Moose Blood, who themselves have had a pretty incredible 12 months. It might be an early set time, but Wembley Arena is still almost full as the band takes their place. Eddy Brewerton sheepishly proclaims “Hello everyone, we’re Moose Blood” before kicking off with ‘Honey’. The bands melodies are as perfect as ever and do an excellent job of welcoming everyone here tonight. Their set include ‘Gum’ and ‘Bukowksi’ from first album, ‘I’ll Keep You in Mind, From Time to Time’ along with recent hits from ‘Blush’. The entirety of the set sees the crowd bouncing and singing along ,proving that in the bands own words, emo is most definitely a gang.

Following Moose Blood might seem like a tough act, but Neck Deep’s brand of pop punk was always sure to get the crowd moving. Taking to the stage to a backdrop of light and a huge roar, they waste no time in getting things going as vocalist Ben Barlow tells the crowd, “You didn’t come here to stand still,” before exploding into ‘Gold Steps’.

The band power through tracks ‘Lime St’ and ‘Kali Ma’, before there’s a goose bump inducing moment as Barlow requests that the crowd get their lighters/phones out during an intimate rendition of ‘A Part of Me’. “If it wasn’t for New Found Glory we wouldn’t be a band,” says Barlow of the band who have to follow them, giving them a jolt of energy for ‘Can’t Kick Up the Roots’. The crowd feed off the performance and there isn’t a single person not moving. By the time the guys leave the stage this huge crowd are baying for more.

New Found Glory were amongst the pioneers of pop-punk and have been a band for two decades. If you grew up in the 90’s/00’s then you’ll know a New Found Glory song, even if you’re not aware of it. They storm the stage following a speech from none other than Rocky Balboa lifted directly from one of the movies and immediately explode into ‘All Downhill from Here’ but if anything their set is on an opposite course.

Their backdrop sums it up perfectly, simply stating ’20 Years of Pop-Punk’ and as vocalist Jordan Pundik reminds the crowd, they’ve been a band for 20 years and have played this next song at every single show. It’s ‘Hit or Miss’ and it’s most definitely a hit with the crowd as mosh pits erupt across the floor. There’s time for Pundik to give shout outs to both the bands that came before them telling the crowd that they should be proud because “Both Moose Blood and Neck Deep are killing it in the states,” before treating us to a brand new track from the album ‘Makes Me Sick’ in the shape of ‘Happy Being Miserable’.

Theres time for a nostalgia inducing rendition of ‘Kiss me’ which has the entire venue singing at the top of their lungs. Pundik and the rest of the band then give everyone a pep talk about how “being in a band is the greatest thing in the world,” and then ensure that the set ends in chaos as they close the set with ‘My Friends Over You’. They may have been a band for 20 years but they have in no way lost any of their enthusiasm for the music they play.

Gig line ups like these don’t come about too often and it’s been a spectacular evening so far. The crowd are more than ready for A Day to Remember to tear it up, there’s mosh pits in the crowd before they even take to the stage with the PA playing tracks from the likes of Slipknot and Limp Bizkit. All this stops as the arena is plunged into darkness and is replaced by a huge roar from the crowd. As the lights come up, the band are in place and Jeremy McKinnon demands “Let’s start this right!, Everybody move,” as they explode, quite literally, with confetti into ‘Mr. Highway’s Thinking About The End’.

They follow this up with ‘Paranoia’ which see’s the floor split into two giant circle pits as McKinnon tells the crowd he wants to “See the biggest fucking circle pit Wembley Arena has ever seen.” The hits keep coming as they power through a number of tracks including ‘2nd Sucks’ and ‘I’m Made of Wax, Larry, What Are You Made Of?’ before McKinnon takes a break from his typical strutting around the stage to insist that the band were only recently made aware that their second album ‘For Those Who Have Heart’ turned 10 years. Prompting an energetic rendition of “Fast Forward to 2012’.

The Majority of the set consists of tracks from both the bands latest offering ‘Bad Vibrations’ and 2009’s ‘Homesick’. As the band power through hit after hit, there’s a couple of moments that show just what this band are all about. During ‘It’s Complicated’ the crew are made busy firing T Shirts into the crowd, and as they power through another favourite, ‘Have Faith In Me’, the crowd instinctively get their lighters out, again making for a fantastic spectacle.

Coming towards the end of the set and there’s a couple of huge tracks ‘All I Want’ and ‘The Plot to Bomb the Panhandle’ before the band leave us… but not for long! Guitarist Neil Westfall saunters back on stage alone declaring “I’ll play this god damn song solo I swear to god,” before McKinnon joins him and asks, “Alright Wembley, did you wanna hear some more songs or some shit?” They give a touching performance of ‘If It Means a Lot To You’. The closing two tracks see the band and crew throwing toilet rolls at each other and the crowd during ‘All Signs Point to Lauderdale’, and they bring the curtain down with a blistering performance of ‘The Downfall of Us All’.

All four bands were incredible A Day To Remember seem set to embark on a new journey amongst the upper echelon of rock bands. Their sub headline set sandwiched in between AFI and headliner Biffy Clyro at Download Festival in the summer can’t come soon enough.

Christopher Lee

The track is taken from their critically acclaimed second album, ‘Blush’, released earlier this year via Hopeless Records.

Moose Blood will be back on the road in the UK early next, opening A Day To Remember’s huge arena tour, which you can see the dates for below, along with the video for ‘Cheek’.

January
22 CARDIFF International Arena
23 GLASGOW The SSE Hydro
25 BIRMINGHAM Barclay Card Arena
27 LONDON The SSE Arena Wembley
28 LEEDS Leeds Arena

They will join the already-stacked line up, along side Neck Deep and Moose Blood, and play all five dates for the arena tour that takes place in January 2017.

Tickets for the shows are on sale now, and you can see the dates below.

January
22 CARDIFF International Arena
23 GLASGOW The SSE Hydro
25 BIRMINGHAM Barclay Card Arena
27 LONDON The SSE Arena Wembley
28 LEEDS Leeds Arena

Having cemented their rise with the recent release of sophomore album ‘Blush’, frontman Eddy Brewerton breaks his between-song silence to express his surprise at their current surroundings. It mirrors the earlier sentiment by Boston Manor vocalist Henry Cox, who deems tonight’s headliners inspirational; looking towards a feat not far out of their grasp. Disregarding their early billing, Boston Manor are as accomplished as many main acts, following the upward trajectory laid out by their blistering ‘Be Nothing’ debut.

Turnover seemingly catch the anticipatory crowd off guard, not least as a gentle pit opens and onlookers jokingly tiptoe to the band’s soft tones.  If nothing else, it sets the musical tone for Moose Blood who sit between the raw sound of Boston Manor and the considered sprawl of the main supports. The headliner’s understated arrival sees them launch into ‘Pastel’.

Despite minimal on-stage patter, barring the increasingly compulsory dedication by Brewerton to his wife, Moose Blood are highly accomplished. Tracks from ‘Blush, particularly ‘Glow’ and singles ‘Honey’ and ‘Knuckles’, showcase their hearty pop influences, yet are tinged with their characteristic melancholia. This theme runs throughout their set, as the likes of ‘Bukowski’ and ‘Pups’ build a dense atmosphere between vibrant and morose.

It’s this that reverberates through the crowd. Deeply personal yet entirely relatable, the beautiful introspection is written across the band’s performance. As the crowd repeat the extremely specific lyrics to ‘Cherry’, the song belongs as much to the band is it does their audience. The lack of on-stage chatter amplifies the sense of shared ownership, never directing or stating claim on anything. Emotion is wrapped up in captivating melodies that offer the audience a choice between frivolous enjoyment or a deeper connection. Whichever is chosen, Moose Blood present it with an impressive emotional mastery.

BEN TIPPLE

It includes acoustic versions of the tracks ‘Glow’ and ‘Knuckles’, from their recently released album, ‘Blush’, which is available via Hopeless Records.

It comes ahead of Moose Blood’s biggest ever headline tour next month, which you can see the dates for below, along with a stream of the ‘Stay Beautiful’ EP.

OCTOBER
03 BIRMINGHAM O2 Institute 2*
04 GLASGOW Garage*
05 SHEFFIELD O2 Academy 2*
06 CARDIFF Y Plas*
07 LONDON KOKO*
08 MANCHESTER Academy 2*

*w/ Turnover, Boston Manor & Luca Brasi

Kicking off in October, support comes from Real Friends, Knuckle Puck, Seaway, and our UK success story Moose Blood, who have recently scored a top 10 album.

General sale starts at 10am Local Time on Wednesday, August 16 and VIP Packages which include a Meet and Greet with the band are available now.

Check out the dates below:

It’s a pretty momentous occasion for the British underground scene, with the band helping to prove that commercial and alternative aren’t mutually exclusive. ‘Blush’, despite its unashamed nods towards the pop scene, remains very much the sound of the counterculture.

Sandwiched between Wild Beasts and Bob Marley, and sharing the top 10 with the likes of Adele and Coldplay, Moose Blood are firmly on the upward trajectory.

We’d expect that this chart placement might finally convince frontman Eddy Brewerton of their success, having told us in a very recent interview that he still couldn’t quite believe they’ve made it this far.

To find out what we made of the record, check out our review, as we send our congratulations to the unstoppable Moose Blood.