LIVE REVIEW: As Everything Unfolds @ Clwb Ifor Bach, Cardiff
On Cardiff’s infamous Womanby Street stands one of its most famous venues; Clwb Ifor Bach. With former performers at the venue including NAPALM DEATH, FUNERAL FOR A FRIEND and THE KILLERS, up and comers AS EVERYTHING UNFOLDS were looking to be part of the extensive legacy Clwb holds with the opening night of their UK tour.
Local support for the evening came from alternative rock band GLASS HEART. A band that are no stranger to the South Wales scene, they brought their own fans along this evening which certainly helped in creating the lively atmosphere the audience needed to begin enjoying their night. Their high energy alternative rock helped to ease the audience in to the evening and proved to be a perfect opening act, combining boyband-esque vocals with more djent inspired guitar licks and vocals. Frontman Adam Rossi and his infectious energy drew the crowd in almost immediately, though it was no doubt helped by the fact he took the intimate setting to perform from amongst them. They’re obviously a very well-oiled machine and the mixture of genres they play wins the audience over within the first few seconds of performing – no easy feat at all.
Rating: 7/10
The second band of the night, and main support for the tour, is London four-piece DELAIRE THE LIAR. In a set that was riddled with technical issues throughout, pure professionalism was displayed by all members, despite the sound tech essentially becoming a fifth member of the band after the amount of time he spent on stage with them fixing various pieces of equipment. They did not let this hinder them in the slightest and by it by no means stopped their ability to perform. An extremely talented band, they performed a mixture of more upbeat aggressive tracks, along with some slower tempo melancholic ones. Singer and guitarist Ffin Colley has an energy that gets the whole crowd moving and singing along, regardless of whether they may know the words or not. This is a band will no doubt be on the rise very quickly in the next year or so, and seeing them before the inevitable catapult to stardom should be a privilege to the audience.
Rating: 8/10
After a short 20 minutes, the audience that has been crammed into the downstairs bar of Clwb Ifor Bach are itching for the main event. All six members of AS EVERYTHING UNFOLDS somehow manage to cram themselves into the small cornered off section of the floor the venue call a stage and quickly begin their set. They waste no time at all in amping the energy up to 11, using the extremely cramped and intimate setting to their advantage. This show alone is a clear example of why this band are so deserving of headline shows and festival slots that they have booked over the next few months.
Frontwoman Charlie Rolfe has an angelic voice that draws the audience in, then immediately throws them back out again with aggressive screams that accompany brutal breakdowns that incorporate all the best elements of the post-hardcore genre that they class themselves as. The room feels like it is filled with static from the pure euphoria of the audience members who are quite literally eye to eye with one of the most exciting bands to break out of the scene in the last few years. This is proven by their setlist; comprised mainly of songs taken from their debut album Within Each Lies The Other, the short hour-long set seems to go by so much more quickly. These intimate shows are definitely going to be a thing of the past for AS EVERYTHING UNFOLDS very soon, as they should be. The audience use this unspoken knowledge as an excuse to truly give it their all, making the springy wooden floor of the venue move in time with the bouncy riffs that are featured on most of their songs.
This band really know how to please a crowd and show them a good time. On this, the opening night of their tour, they really have set the bar high for themselves but as any fan of the band will tell you, there is no doubt that they will outdo themselves very soon.
Rating: 10/10
Check out our photo gallery of the night’s action in Cardiff from Megan Jenkins Photography here:
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