LIVE REVIEW: Alien Ant Farm @ Arts Club, Liverpool
WORDS: Sophie Lynch PHOTOS: Todd Webb
For fans of Nu-metal, an ALIEN ANT FARM tour is the perfect thing to kick start 2016. Celebrating the 15th anniversary of their 2001 album ANThology, ALIEN ANT FARM graced Liverpool’s Arts Club supported by INME and THE DIRTY YOUTH.
THE DIRTY YOUTH were the first band to open the show; the South Wales five piece clearly knows how to work an audience having played Download Festival in previous years. Front woman Danni Monroe took centre stage in a striking white jumpsuit emblazoned with stars and came armed with a sparkly microphone to show off her powerful vocal chords, which hardly faltered as she danced around the stage and weaved between her bandmates. Finishing their set with The One, a track from the bands second album Gold Dust, THE DIRTY YOUTH did a fantastic job of building the crowds excitement for the two nostalgic bands that followed and received a good reception when leaving the stage. It was only a shame their set wasn’t longer!
Rating: 8/10
Alternative metal band INME walked on stage and was greeted by an audience who were now a mixture of younger and older fans. It was clear from the crowd’s reaction this performance has been eagerly anticipated and the Essex quartet powered through their set with ease. After their Overgrown Butterflies tour last year, INME were definitely warmed up for this European tour and time has not waivered their ability to perform and work the crowd with the bursts of energy between the band and their audience increasing as they rocked their way through their generous set list.
Rating: 7/10
Kick starting the performance with Courage after a huge applause walking on stage, ALIEN ANT FARM galvanised the show by performing their 2001 album ANThology in its entirety to mark its fifteenth anniversary. AAF casually moved into their second single off the album Movies which immediately had the crowd jumping around as the familiar guitar riffs echoed through the venue. By the time the band had gotten to Attitude the audience had completely lost themselves in the nostalgic set and a few members had managed to crowd surf their way towards the front. Lead singer Dryden Mitchell joked with the eager crowd between belting out lyrics to Calico and Death Day, never allowing the atmosphere to calm down as the set came to its final two songs off the album. An explosive encore followed after Universe when the band left the stage, followed by another applause which erupted through the room when they re-entered for a final three songs. As the band blasted into Smooth Criminal (the song which is responsible for ALIEN ANT FARM’s success and fame) it was clear the audience gotten what they came for and ALIEN ANT FARM had successfully managed to take everybody back to 2001 and left the Arts Club with an outstanding reception.
Rating: 9/10
Check out our exclusive photo gallery of the night’s action in Liverpool below:
