I walked in to The Cockpit as THE XCERTS started playing. Andy has raved on about these boys for a while now and I’ve only ever heard them in passing, but after this performance I can see why he likes them so much. They don’t look much on stage, appearing quite awkward and aware barely anyone in the crowd is there to see them play. But I think they won a fair few people over. Frontman Murray Macleod looks a total bag of nerves between songs as his plaid shirt seemingly dwarfs him, but when he opens his mouth and he gets in the groove the band really impress. If I had one complaint it would be that the bass was too high in the mix and drowned out the guitars a little bit, but overall I was impressed. I’ll be checking them out further for sure. (7)

With such an extensive back catalogue to refer to THE GET UP KIDS are always going to have people say ‘play such and such’ and leave one or two disappointed. I’ve seen the band a few times now and the set lists haven’t really strayed from the classics, which, in truth, is exactly what you want when you see them. The crowd is noticeably older than at most shows and there are a great many beards in attendance – you’d be forgiven for thinking you’d walked into some kind of face hair convention. Everywhere you turn there’s fuzz and some pretty impressive beards at that. It sums up the fact that while the band went away they don’t seem to have grabbed too many new fans – the venue, I’m told, is about 75% full, so the older fans have certainly managed to stick with the band throughout the hiatus.

I’d read other reviews that the band were sloppy, looked miserable and argued but there’s nothing of the sort on show in Leeds. Matt and Jim bounce off each other, there’s a few jokes aimed at band members (and the crowd). They once again look genuinely pleased to be on stage. The hits rain down all night – ‘Holiday’, ‘Don’t Hate Me’, ‘No Love’, ‘Red Letter Day’…they’re all present and correct. A couple of songs from ‘Simple Science’ get an airing (and go over the heads of most people) and there’s a completely new song, sung by Jim, too. There’s a good mix of songs, mainly from ‘STWHA’ but a splattering from ‘Four Minute Mile’ too. ‘Overdue’, ‘Walking on a Wire’ and ‘Campire Kansas’ go down well too, while ‘Beer For Breakfast’ and ‘Close To Me’ make up the encore.

The band will be back in August for festivals and two warm-up shows, a new album follows in the Spring. The kids are most certainly still alright…(9)

I walked in to an empty venue as Dead Message (I think) take to the stage.
The singer looks like Tom DeLonge circa 1998, the drummer’s topless and in
swim shorts and the bassist looks horrendously uncomfortable on the stage.
There’s a lesson to be learned for bands such as this, especially compared
to All or Nothing and The Swellers. Both of those bands exude confidence
on stage. They look like a band, as well as sound like a band. This
lot sound like Blink covering Green Day, except without the singalongs or
melodies. The only memorable bit is a cover of Sugababes’ ‘About You Now’,
which is butchered by the second vocalist who failed to hit a single note.
Dead Message aren’t a bad band, they’re just painfully average. No better
or worse than every opening band playing every opening show at every local
pub every Friday night. There’s no stage presence, no real choruses and it
just looks like a group of friends having fun playing bad versions of their
favourite songs. Nothing wrong with that, just ain’t gonna get you very
far. (5/10)

All or Nothing have improved immeasurably since I saw them last a few years
ago. They ooze confidence and two or three years of hard touring has
tightened them up no end. Unfortunately the band suffer a few tech problems
– broken drum pedal and poor vocal levels in the mix – which blights their
performance. The lead vocals in particular are too low throughout,
although you can tell the band have upped their game with the dual vox
working well when you can hear them. In truth the band are possibly a
couple of choruses away from breaking through to the bigger leagues and if
they continue to up their game at the rate they are doing that will be
sooner rather than later. A score of 7/10 would have been a bit higher
without the sound difficulties.

And then on to The Swellers and it’s refreshing to see the band set their
own gear up and do it extremely quickly. The band launch into ‘2009’, ‘Fire
Away’ and ‘The Iron’ in their first three songs and it’s very noticeable
the band play things much quicker live than they do on record, which in
turn means some of the subtleties and guitar fills on record just aren’t
there in a live setting. The sound starts off a bit muddy as the vocal
levels are again off, but within four or five songs these are sorted and
the band are flying. The crowd, probably less than 100-strong, is pretty
lifeless throughout apart from one (drunken) soul who gave it everything he
had and more, but a fair few people know the words and sing along. For the
older fans there’s a heavy dose of stuff from ‘My Everest’ with about six
songs played from that record. But the newer material goes down best with
‘Sleeper’ and ‘Do You Feel Better Yet?’ gaining a decent reception. The
Swellers are tight, energetic and extremely confident, as you would expect
from a touring band. They seem genuinely excited to be in the UK and their
on-stage banter is natural and witty. ‘Dirt’ closes things triumphantly
and there’s a knowing smugness that next time The Swellers are over they’ll
be in The Cockpit’s bigger room with a much larger audience. (8/10)

Musically Sharks remind me of some of the Deep Elm cannon in places – the laid back emo (back when emo was tight jumpers and back packs) stylings of Brandston/Elliot maybe, but with heavy doses of 80’s/90’s UK brit-pop and indie. As indie goes it’s not bad – they’re certainly not as boring live as their myspace makes out they could of been. But, they fall entirely flat on the Gallows audience. It’s nice to see a challenging and eclectic bill when you get a bit older, but the kids in the audience are not interested at all. 3/5

Trash Talk however start a proper moshpit that doesn’t really stop until after the last song finishes in a wash of feedback. Which must be utterly galling to Sharks, as unlike the opening band Trash Talk offer nothing new, inspired or interesting. It’s thrash/hardcore that ticks all the cliche boxes, guaranteed to get the eager floor dancing (well ludicrously spinning kicking I guess) but sure to leave you empty afterwards. If half the kids here had listened to Ceremony before tonight they’d have been standing at the back bemused. 1/5

Gallows are a band who are changing. Orchestra was a great album, but full of posturing and youthful rage – raging at anything, it was 36 minutes of fun riffy hardcore. Grey Britain though is the sound of a band who’ve taken that blueprint, and run with it into a brick wall of seething resentment for everything. Not just anything, everything. They’re an entirely different proposition live to where they were a couple of years back to. They’re still full of energy, even though they’ve all got the flu apparently, and they still rifle through a catalogue of songs most bands would die for. But where before it felt a little forced to be climbing on bars, a little rockstar to be calling the crowd ‘cunts’, tonight it feels natural. There seems to be a new found comfort to the band that really does see them doing what they want when they want, not just talking about it. When Frank meets/enters the crowd it feels like it’s because he’s at one with them – not because it’s what a tattooed rock star should do.

It’s difficult to put into words what you get now, but something is different. Something is better, tonight despite apologising for being off colour the band are the best I’ve ever seen them. Maybe its the release of the weight that a major label record deal put on their shoulders (now completed and left behind apparently), maybe it’s the end of a spiral of media action (I’ve not seen Frank on the front of the NME recently) or maybe it’s just a band that have matured into something vital and exciting from the promise they held. Either way Gallows are bloody brilliant and if you’re not planning on catching this tour, you’re an idiot. 5/5

Kieran

Geography trivia, awkward login-based introductions and plenty of drinking. That’s what seems to characterise a gig that Punktastic is involved with these days. All very surreal.

The fact this gig was a sell-out and the queue was still being worked meant that the room wasn’t full when Me vs Hero started, but they quickly ripped into their PT Recs-released tracks with aplomb. Cue big singalongs from the 50 people at the front and some shaky-looking human pyramids. The tone obviously had a sombre note to it with guitarist Alex McCulloch having passed away in August. This didn’t stop a decent performance which went down very well with those who were familiar with the band, but this was probably the weakest performance of the three occasions that I’ve seen MvH. A few mix issues and some vocal weaknesses were the primary culprits, but a landmark gig for them nonetheless. (6)

All Or Nothing continue to cement their reputation as a force to be reckoned with on the UK’s polished-pop-punk scene. Building on their recent (ish) glowing review from PT, they delivered a tight set, though it was markedly less well received than the band appearing before them. I wasn’t familiar with much of it before they began but, sucking up the main band between every single song aside, this was an impressive display and will have certainly done them a few favours in terms of winning new fans. (8)

The North Americans were now brought on to really get things going and Four Year Strong resonate wildly in the now-rammed Cockpit. Their frontman, resembling a vintage W.G. Grace, has an immense frame and an equally immense stage presence, giving a lesson to the semi-timid acts who had appeared before him. This was the second time I’d seen FYS, and though the selection of songs was fair and their delivery was at least competent, I can’t help but feel underwhelmed by the use of their synth in their live sets. It feels far too tacked-on and leaves its player and some-time vocalist as sort of a bit-part player. Although they were playing to the converted, it’s fair to say they went down like a cake at a Weightwatchers meet. (8)

And onto the night’s headliners, Set Your Goals. The one thing I must point out in this review is the marked improvements in their live performance. That’s the third time I’ve seen them now I think and they’ve improved phenomenally; a huge maturation for a band. Their mini vocalist still looks completely awkward in his own skin, but his binary opposition to his partner is part of the appeal, I guess. It’s about bloody time they released something new, though, instead of 329 wax versions of 2-year-old records. (9)

I guess there was a blessing in the fact NFG were supporting Paramore on this UK tour as it allowed them to do a number of smaller headline shows – and boy are you always in for a treat when the Floridians are going off in a smaller venue. If you’re in a band there’s no better mentor than NFG and the gulf in class between the other acts I’ve seen in, well, ever, is pretty much huge. But more on that in a minute.

Virginians CONDITIONS open up with a very tight Circa Survive meets Amber Pacific sound. Very, very clean vocals from buffed up frontman Brandon Roundtree (awesome pony tail dude) give this band a very safe edge; they’re not so much radio friendly but they play a brand of alternative poppy rock with technical bits that is probably more interesting on record than it is live. Technically they’re very good and they manage to recreate such a big sound live, but not knowing any of their songs in advance they didn’t have the energy to really grab my attention. Still, the tracks on their myspace are decent and there’s a good chance they could take the step up. (7)

YOU ME AT 6 have been riding on the crest of a wave for a year now and their standing as main support to an act like NFG shows how far they have come. I generally think YMA6 are good at what they do – they’re like a better Madina Lake – but tonight they are nothing short of atrocious. The first song (possibly ‘Save It for the Bedroom’) is beset by technical difficulties as Josh’s mic fails and you can’t hear him. But when that gets fixed his vocals are way, way off on pretty much every song. They’re too low in the mix, an octave lower than they should be in the sound and, to be honest, it sounds like he’s ill or his throat is fucked and he’s trying to protect it. The music behind him is pretty tight and can’t be faulted – the synchronised guitar jumps were a little too much – but overall YMA6 were very, very disappointing. ‘The Rumour’ is still their best song by a long, long way and if they’re going to make the impact many are expecting they’re going to need to improve on performances like this. (3)

NEW FOUND GLORY are one of the best live bands I’ve ever seen. They were excellent on their first tour in 2001 and have been excellent every time I’ve seen them. They have so much energy and exuberance on stage, they look like they’re having so much fun and that rubs off on everyone around them. Primarily a greatest hits set the crowd goes off every time they hear an old favourite. And boy are some old favourites played. ‘Better Off Dead’, Head On Collision’, ‘Kiss Me’, ‘Sonny’, ‘Dressed To Kill’, ‘Hit or Miss’, ‘All Downhill From Here’, ‘My Friends Over You’… you don’t realise just how many amazing songs the band have written until they play them, one after the other. It’s difficult to express just how much fun the band are – you simply have to see them live and just witness how much fun and enjoyment they have. The best band I’ve seen in a long, long time. (10)

Unexpectedly, the band that kicks off the Big Thrive Tour isn’t any of the bands on tonight’s bill, but a local band titled Talk To Angels. The boys overcome a shaky and vocally mediocre start (complete with technical difficulties), and succeed in serving a delightfully Dashboard Confessional-esque helping of piano-infused rock. Each instrument’s aggressively played with thrashing drums, as the vocals shine through gentle/acoustic to gravelly screams with impressive hold. The introduction of secondary vocals from bassist Chris Robbins sound akin to those of Sum 41s� Deryck Whibley, giving them an exciting edge that packs a punch and leaves you genuinely surprised. Worth a second look. *7.5*

Kill The Arcade perform a much more professional, choreographed set, yet seem to fail to wow much of the crowd. Regardless, the energy on stage is intense as the five-some jump around and play with every muscle and shred of energy they own. It’s debatable whether KTA are perhaps a little too punk rock for this tour and could have been significantly better suited at this year�s Slam Dunk festival. It�s pop/punk combined with British punk vocals, resulting in an unusually successful ferocity. They play brilliantly and despite not being an immediate knock-out, they get better the more you listen. A strong live performance and a couple fantastic tunes on their myspace. Time could do great things. *7*

Self Against City, much to numerous fans� dismay, got the short straw in this race as they had to leave their singer in New York City as he didn’t have a passport. The band’s bassist steps in and does much of the singing, or at least seems to, as the other two microphones don’t appear to be particularly successful. The vocals unsurprisingly enough are weak and as their show progresses, the absence of a charismatic frontman becomes increasingly obvious. Otherwise, musically they�re wonderful and as a band they have a hoard of pop/punk hits up their sleeve that unfortunately fail to be received by the audience tonight. Kill The Arcade‘s frontman Lee steps in for the upbeat anthem ‘Ready and Willing’ and scales up the speakers in a final effort to provoke a positive response in the crowd. A band for fans of Something Corporate, The Starting Line and Houston Calls. Check out http://www.purevolume.com/selfagainstcity to see what they really sound like.

Last, but not least is Luis Dubuc, aka The Secret Handshake. With Dubuc’s announcement that he wasn�t allowed to bring his keyboard on the plane, a slight feeling of despair sets in, but he laughs it off and nervously makes somewhat uncouth jokes such as ‘If you don’t dance to this next song, you have AIDS!� in which the crowd fall apart in stitches. The crowd, for perhaps the first time tonight are densely congregated around the stage, fascinated and yes, dancing to the pop/electronica combination, a sound more commonly used by Hellogoodbye. Self Against City‘s drummer Justin Barnes sweats it out for what for him is a double set and it’s a fantastic success. For the grand finale, surely you�d be safe in placing your bets on the fan-favourite and title of The Secret Handshake EP ‘Summer of 98′, but no, it’s none other than Luis’ own version of Alice Deejay’s ‘Better Off Alone’ and it goes down a storm! The evening ends on a massive crescendo, incredible for a show that could have so easily been shambolic. *9*

Carolyn

Screeching on stage are the grungy looking teens that are ?98 Pages?. Considering how many bands are sounding fairly similar at the minute, it?s quite refreshing to hear a band that seems to have spent approximately the past 18 years being spoon-fed on old-school Rock ?n? Roll. One song in and they?re already showing signs of promise and receive a round of applause from the friendly gathering they appear to have brought with them. Some seriously impressive guitaring with hints of Guns ?n? Roses, but with the husky Indie vocals of The Subways. Song, ?Days of June? shows a softer side and with variation and skill, they?re pretty good fun. (7)

The following kids band, ?Bad Shots Reunion?, are less fun. So much so, that I took advantage of the ?complementary ear plugs? from the bar. They?re loud and punk and if they could have refrained from mounting every speaker and jumping over the barriers like it was some kind of assault course, wrapping themselves up in cable and chatting absolute crap down the microphone every two minutes, then maybe that would have helped. It?s bad punk/screamo that?s offensive at best. (3)

Finally, it?s The Zico Chain boys, a trio of attractive twenty-somethings that actually manage to make black skinny jeans look rock. Curiously enough, despite them having just done SXSW Festival in America, Get In The Ring, Give It A Name and secured a Main Stage slot at this years Download Festival, they?re back here, about 6 months later, in the same venue, to only a couple dozen more people. Unhindered by the turn-out, frontman Chris not so subtly beckons people to the front with ?You better be fucking coming forwards!? to which the seemingly nonchalant, sparse crowd speed to the front, hold on to the railings and mosh to the quite literally brilliant, rock anthem ?Rohypnol?. The phone cameras are out! ?Social Suicide? is received brilliantly from the announcement alone and has more hair flailing around the room. ?You guys seem to have the mini album or something?? modestly jokes the gravelly vocalist. The band?s impressive ability to make even a crowd as tragic as tonight?s rock out mid-week, contributes to the respect they deserve. The performance is consistently thrilling with influences from bands such as Motorhead, The Bronx, Marilyn Manson, Queens of the Stone Age and so on, and in the words of Rock Sound ?Big things beckon? not least for being a modern punk band with balls?. With an impressive CV, a quality performance and a couple of members in the crowd having been attending their shows for a year and a half now, I only hope their Summer album release can be put on ?pre-order?. Well worth the rock. (8)

Carolyn

Tonight’s ‘Sold Out’ show, admittedly, may not have been possible for The Academy Is… if it weren’t for the publicity gained by fellow Chicagoans and Fueled By Ramen label mates, Fall Out Boy. With the addition of a new guitarist and new album ‘Santi’ (apparently meaning their version of ‘Cheers!’) finally hitting the shelves, tonight will determine whether or not they are worthy of the hype they’ve received and consequently what the future may hold for them.

First band on this evening is the emoliciously titled ‘Young Love’, who are virtually unheard of- even by the hippest scene kids tonight. However, this is the perfect opportunity for them to showcase their upbeat Indie/Pop sound to just the audience who are likely to love them. Opening song ‘Discoteque’ goes down a storm. It’s ridiculously catchy and actually manages to create a bit of a stir before receiving cheers and a very warm, welcoming round of applause. The singer has a fantastic voice and heaps of charisma, combine that with a curious combination of bling, suit jacket and hat, he helps distract from the bands visible lack of confidence in playing to such a tightly packed room, who tend to look at anything but the crowd. Regardless, they sound immaculate and manage to make some of the ‘cooler’ types forget who they were trying to be and actually dance, sweat and start having fun. In response to the announcement of their last song, the crowd, in unison, give a pantomime style “Awwww!” to which Young Love’s vocalist sincerely responds with “It’s OK, there’s some really cool bands coming on! … We’ll be back!”. Too right they will be! For fans of ‘Panic! At The Disco‘ and ‘Cobra Starship‘. *8.5*

“Let’s fucking do this!” shouts The Audition‘s frontman before launching into ‘You’ve Made Us Conscious’. Even though the crowd sing along and create a mini slampit, ‘Young Love’ in comparison make them sound untidy. This is partially due to it being so loud which makes it harder for the instruments to be appreciated and forces the vocals to struggle over the music. They sound far more ‘Rock’ tonight than on the record, which is greatly appreciated by the crowd, even though when the microphone is held out into the crowd no one’s really sure of the words. The show does get better as they own the crowd and the HUGE pit for ‘Dance Halls…’. They finish on ‘Don’t Be So Hard…’ and at least end the show on a high, but showing only part of what they’re capable of. *7*

The lights are low as The Academy Is… enter one by one onto the stage. The crowd goes insane as William Beckett completes the line-up and the band start to play. By second song ‘Classifieds’ the ceiling is already starting to drip with the enthusiasm and the crowd love it. Beckett somehow manages to remain sincere and grounded through the performance as he smiles and holds hands with members in the audience. TAI are giving it everything they have and it doesn’t appear that they’d ever rather be anywhere else. The atmosphere is immense as everyone dances and sings along. Even when one of the unfamiliar songs off ‘Santi’ is played it receives a hugely positive response. As for the new guitarist, he fits in perfectly as the band play energetically through all of the greatest tracks from ‘Almost Here’, such as ‘Checkmarks’ and ‘Attention‘, much to the audiences approval. TAI’s forthcoming single ‘Big, Big Mess’ is absolutely awesome and gets a surprisingly great response, indicating good things for ‘Santi’. One of the doors is opened to cool everyone down, yet I still managed to end up with a girl passing out next to me. Fortunately for her it was at the end of the 13 song set. Fantastic performance. *10*

Carolyn

The oddly matched rapping duo, Hangar 18 from New York, set the evening off brilliantly. Virtually every single person in the venue came to witness their light-hearted rhymes and party it out on stage with beer in hand. The audience “shook their ass” to what turned out to be one of the main highlights of their set, in which the audience were split into two halves, (one for MC Alaska and one for MC Windnbreeze) and joined in with song ‘Baking Soda’. This had a similarly lively response as when they decided to change song ‘Bar Hopping’ to ‘Pub Crawling’ resulting in chanting and hands waving to the beat. Quality fun, but lacking enough substance to gain them much more than an opening slot. (6)

The second support act of the evening was Chicago four-piece, Madina Lake. A total musical contrast to the night, but one that really livened things up! Frontman Nathan announced the band like they’d been playing forever, despite only having played Leeds once, (in support of Paramore last October), and then proceeded to tear up the stage harder and with more passion than your average well-preened alternative rock group. The second song played, ?Adalia?, demanded ?the biggest moshpit ever!? and by ?One Last Kiss? the jumping turned to slamming and then to chaos in the pit. However, a couple members of the audience didn?t appreciate the music and loudly heckled the band. Angry, Nathan announced that they as a band had ?played with loads of bands from different genres? and that they?re ?just here for the music? so fuck you?. The conflict demanded a certain amount of respect for the band, but was too intense for some, as a number of the crowd dispersed. The show continued with ?House of Cards?, which resulted in crowd-surfing, a circle pit and to add to the craziness, 3 large balloons were thrown out which eventually burst on the hot stage lamps, scattering confetti everywhere. Regardless of the evident talent and passionate playing, this band is your marmite- you?re going to love them or hate them, with pretty much nothing inbetween. However, having sold out of albums on the Paramore tour, with a slot secured at Give It A Name and a headline tour in sight for Autumn, this won?t be the last you?ll hear of them. (8)

Tonight?s New York headliners Gym Class Heroes are best known for being Fall Out Boy?s labelmates. Main vocalist Travis subtly refers to the FOB related exposure and notes that there is a misconception that they are a ?new band?, as they?ve actually ?been touring for 3 and a half years, non-stop?. Regardless of the exposure, it is clear that the fans are genuine as the whole crowd shouts enthusiastically along to song ?Taxi Driver? with arms up, dancing away. Music comes to these boys as naturally as breathing. This is what they do and they do it well. Travis owns the stage and the audience with his vocal skills, humour and honesty. This was evident from him saying ?the last song recorded for their last album?, ?On My Own Time (Write On!)?resulted in a few ?nervous breakdowns? as he?d ?run out of things to write about? and so decided to write about ?how hard it is to write a song?. Instead of rapping, Travis sings (and sings impressively) for this and there is an awesome guitar solo. For ?Cupid?s Chokehold? FOB?s Patrick?s intro vocals are leaked through the speakers and receive a huge crowd response complete with Gym Class flag waving. After which they mellow it out with the melodic ?Scholastic Scandal?, which Gym Class claim to be their final song. The audience refuse to budge and chant for an encore. The band pile back on stage and finish on the phenomenal ?Clothes off!? giving the audience just the high they?d wanted. (9)

Carolyn.