Proxies' set was musically amazing. The band presented a heavy crossover of the electronica and pop-rock genres, and their energy-fueled setlist kicked off the night fantastically! However, the band's performance wavered in only one area - crowd participation. Although they maintained a packed room throughout their set, the audience was generally very still, choosing only to enthusiastically applaud at the end of each song. Overall, the band performed a great set, but it was a set that could've been even better had they made the crowd feel truly involved and immersed in the music, rather than maintaining their position as spectators.
Nonetheless, you should definitely check out Proxies' music! You can download their EP 'Lost Tapes, Volume I' for free via their official website, and trust me, it's a fantastic set of tracks from a very promising band.
Blitz Kids - The absolutely epic second support act...
In contrast to Proxies' set, Blitz Kids got the crowd jumping, singing and clapping from their first song to their last! Whilst lead singer Joe James enjoyed running right up against the barrier to get as close to the ecstatic audience as possible, the rest of the band owned the stage with the energy of a handful of Mexican jumping beans on Lucozade. And on top of the songs that required the audience to go, in the frontman's own words, "a little bit crazy", the quintet also showcased (slightly) slower-paced, more anthemic and melodic tracks like Never Die, proving that they're not a one-trick-pony band only capable of high-octane, hard rock numbers.
The band put on a truly great set. It's safe to say that the handful of fans in the audience that had come all the way from Nantwich to see Blitz Kids perform (and who sang along to every word of every song with their whole heart and soul) weren't disappointed. Indeed, if Thursday's performance was anything to go by, the band's hardcore fanbase will be continuing to grow fast over the coming months and years. And after that momentous performance, consider me one of those fans.
You can (and I recommend that you do!) check out Blitz Kids' music for free on their official Myspace page. Also, look at this fancy banner I found on their Myspace site! How cool is this?...
The Blackout - The headliners!
And now, the headliners. To be honest, The Blackout's set is all a bit of a blur in my mind - a mass of headbanging, arm-waving, singing along and hoping that the gig would last forever. Before Thursday, I'd heard of The Blackout, and I'd listened to a few brilliant songs of theirs, but I was yet to understand what the massive Blackout-hype was all about in magazines like Kerrang! and NME. Witnessing the band in action showed me what all the hype was about. And then some.
Musically, the band were faultless throughout, and their post-hardcore sound packed a punch with every track. This wasn't the best aspect of their set though - the most memorable part of The Blackout's headlining performance has to be the atmosphere. It was mental. During some tracks, the entire ground floor of The Sugarmill was transformed into a huge mosh pit. The immense heat in the room, coupled with the feeling of mass hysteria, led a handful of fans to literally strip down to their underwear. Frontmen Sean Smith and Gavin Butler had the crowd in the palms of their hands, on one occasion getting the entire audience to sit down, jump back up and dance like there was no tomorrow. Other memorable moments include Butler climbing off the stage and onto The Sugarmill's balcony (see the above images), Smith asking the audience to "remember those less fortunate than ourselves" - which he later specified to mean Avril Lavigne, upon to her recent engagement to Nickleback singer Chad Kroeger - and Smith tying guitarist James Davies' shoelaces whilst casually chatting with the audience (again, see above).
At one point, Sean Smith told the audience that when the band decided to perform a one-off gig at The Sugarmill, "we didn't know if anybody would come" - albeit with a wry smile on his face as he said so. He had nothing to worry about - the band are absolute masters live, and Thursday night's packed-out gig was no exception. It's definitely made its way into my list of all-time favourite gigs. If you ever get the chance to see The Blackout live, take it, because onstage this band deliver everything you would want from a rock concert, and more.
So, hopefully I've given you a bit of an insight into how manically awesome the gig was!
Stay tuned to Superunknown because coming very soon is my review of 'Godless' by Blue Origin, and next week I'll be reviewing Labrinth's 'Electronic Earth' album. Rock on!
PsyD
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