The Blackout, from Merthyr, Tydfill in South Wales played their largest London show to date last night to a crowd of over two thousand fanatics at Camden’s Roundhouse in London. With support from Page 44, Canterbury and We Are The Ocean, the stage was set for a night of earth-shattering sound.
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| The Blackout at Camden Roundhouse last night |
Although I am sure Page 44 played a great show, I did not arrive to the venue until after their setlist was complete, and am therefore unable to comment on their performance. However, the Roundhouse was packed with people, suggesting that they had enjoyed the band enough to stay, which can only be a positive thing. In fact, three bands is usually sufficient enough to please audiences and bands alike, as artists are able to play more material in a longer period of time, giving the audience more of a taster of what they can do.
Canterbury are a phenomenally good looking foursome from Hampshire who were formed in 2005. They released their debut album ‘Thank You’ in November 2009 as a free download, allowing them to spread their music to as many people as possible. Canterbury brought the venue alive with a sound as chirpy and bouncy as ‘Jimmy Eat World’. With brilliant harmonies, crowd pleasing choruses and musical variety, they played an excellent set. They were also very humble towards the crowd who seemed to adore their rhythmic sound a great deal.
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| Canterbury |
The people and lights, the dingy decor of the Roundhouse sparkled and its acoustics are so pristine, they would be certain to make the likes of Bring Me The Horizon sound half decent. Final support from We Are The Ocean was welcomed to a rapturous response from the crowd, particularly for a support band. Their two strong singers illustrating their flawless call and response style blend of screamo and conventional vocals, they proved they are very well rehearsed in polished live performances. After being formed in 2007, We Are The Ocean have come along leaps and bounds with regards to their musical style and sound. Their second studio album was released in April this year to a great response from fans, foreshadowing their flawless performances to come, including this year’s Reading Festival on the Main Stage. Roaring out hits including ‘Nothing Good Has Happened Yet’, ‘The Waiting Room’, ‘What It Feels Like’ and ‘Confessions’, they also proved their awesome abilities as variety ridden songwriters.
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| We Are The Ocean |
When The Blackout finally begun, they took to the stage with all the confidence of an arena-filling rock band. As soon as they started, sound and crowd alike were bouncing off the walls, warmly welcoming a loud, sweaty and electrifying set. With an unusual mixture of fans from about the ages of twelve to one hundred and twelve (this may or may not be a slight exaggeration), The Blackout depict how appealing their music can be to many different types of people. Commencing with ‘This Is Our Time’ from their new album ‘Hope’ which was released on the 4th April, the band rapidly prove the worth of their new record and slight sound variation. This was followed up by a single from ‘Hope’, ‘Ambition Is Critical’ which had the audience screaming lyrics at the top of their lungs.
Of course, the apparently timeless issue of illegal downloading was brought up by the band several times during the show, as they jokingly accused those who did not pay for their album as the reason they are poor! Classic crowd pleaser ‘Save Our Selves (The Warning)’, which is usually played last, brought a wonderfully new dose of surprise to The Blackout’s set arrangement. After releasing a second album, let alone a third, it can be tremendously difficult for band’s to construct a setlist illustrating all that they have to offer. But The Blackout manage to complete the task admirably and convey a wonderful mixture of old and new material. Followed by tearjerker ‘It’s High Tide Baby!’ and new single ‘Never By Your Side’, their chosen setlist proves their worthiness of tonight’s venue, and that they are certainly heading in the right direction with regards to progression.
‘The Devil Inside’ portrays The Blackout’s retention of their darker side, as well classics such as ‘This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things’, ‘Children of The Night’, ‘Said & Done’, ‘Spread Legs Not Lies’, ‘I’m A Riot? You’re A Fucking Riot!’ and ‘ShutTheFuckUppercut’. New tracks ‘Not Alone’ and ‘The Storm’ conveyed the success of the band’s latest release and their thumping abilities blew the audience away. Their senselessly passionate fans were given the gift of a stunning rendition of ‘The Last Goodbye’ and a beautiful opening to ‘Hope’. But this was not before frontman Sean Smith preached his traditional ‘anyone can do anything’ speech, which is of course not true, but it is a sentimental start to the song. ‘Hope’ broke out into The Blackout’s ear ringing sound and perhaps it was just because the band were having the show filmed for a DVD released in the near future, but the audience were incredibly energetic throughout. This was despite the fact that they did not require much encouragement or crowd interaction techniques to entice them, reflecting that moshing and general movement is almost a natural reflex to The Blackout’s music.
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| The Blackout's Latest Album 'Hope' |
After spontaneously performing ‘Higher & Higher’ twice, the band exhibited their talent flawlessly, aside from one drumming mishap for a bar or two from drummer Gareth ‘Snoz’ Lawrence. But it was recovered from so rapidly that it almost went unnoticed. The show’s overall success has been followed up by many any appreciative tweet from members of all the bands involved, and with regards to the headliners, it conveys that they still have their feet firmly on the ground and their future aspirations in the clouds. They were wonderfully humble throughout the show, with The Blackout’s vocalist Gavin Butler stating that it was ‘the highlight of (their) career so far’.
The Roundhouse brought The Blackout their most epic, humble, expensive and energetic show to date. With the band’s uncommon characteristics and remarkable flair, it was also their best performance to date, proving that a little hard work (and fantastic musical talent), can go a very long way.
5/5
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