LIVE REVIEW: The Amity Affliction @ Rock City, Nottingham
As people well know, it is customary in the UK to complain about the weather even when conditions are as such because, well, it’s that time of year. Take tonight, for example – it’s the first full week of December, thereby officially winter to all but traditionalists, and thermometers on smartphones up and down the queue are registering a degree or so above zero. Does it mean that many are complaining about it being too cold? You bet they are. However, over the next five hours – doors are at the rather early time of 5pm – at least everyone’s aware that they’ll soon warm up inside Rock City, especially when there are four bands, spear-headed by THE AMITY AFFLICTION, to enjoy.
Californian metallic hardcore outfit MUGSHOT are first up: billed as having a half hour stage time, they rock up ten minutes after their schedule time but, given most of their songs are under three minutes in length, this works to their advantage – why bother messing with a tried-and-tested twenty minute set that makes a statement? Evoking the likes of CODE ORANGE when they still had the KIDS in their name, DESOLATED and BRUTALITY WILL PREVAIL, the quartet are quickly into their stride and exhuming plenty of energy, particularly from vocalist Ringo Waterman who has a good way with song timings and when to throw down. They’re a bit one-dimensional in places, but nobody seems to care, with the pit full of flailing arms and two-stepping even at this early stage; it’s fair to say the temperature’s risen a bit by the time they depart.
Rating: 7/10
“Don’t just fucking stand there, pussies!” yells ALPHA WOLF frontman Lochie Keogh during opening song Rot To Pieces and startling a few punters who aren’t quite used to the stage patter of Australian vocalists. The hardcore bruisers from Melbourne haven’t had the smoothest ride up until now, but they battered audiences into submission on their first ever headliner tour in April and have grown so much that KING 810, once touted for massive things, were their main support. Clearly people remember – there’s a huge response for them, especially during Sub-Zero which, despite a false start on technical difficulties, gets the first wall of death of the night and every song that passes seems to evoke more and more cheers from a swelling room. By the time they finish with a crushing Akudama, the bar for the second half of the bill is sky high.
Rating: 8/10
COMEBACK KID, however, are not about to become the proverbial shrinking violets of the bill – for one, their intro tape goes from A-HA’s classic 80’s track Take On Me straight into the mellow strains of In The Air Tonight by the mercurial PHIL COLLINS and the band kick in right after THAT drum fill; with the opening number being title track from last year’s excellent Heavy Steps, it’s a strong start. Things take an early wobble when second song As Idols Falls seems off in terms of the drumming, but Do Yourself A Favour gets things right back on track as the band cover their many styles with a hardcore show (the aforementioned), a metal show with Crossed and a punk rock singalong in G.M.Vincent and I in a thunderous three-song curve. The standout moment is Somewhere, Somehow, which has the most glorious of choruses, but in a set that contains a full thirteen tracks, it never stops never stopping.
Rating: 8/10
Sometimes, nights are made by an audience. If you’re in a band that are beloved by a fiercely loyal fanbase, their passion can turn a fairly average gig into a great one. THE AMITY AFFLICTION are a perfectly functioning metalcore band – not remarkable, but certainly better than the vast majority of acts in a genre that is getting ever more saturated. Tonight, though, it doesn’t matter that they’re not quite at their best, that the clean vocals from Joel Birch are on the quiet side at several points or that there’s a hint of them going through the motions, because every single individual in the room is living for their set.
By the time they’ve departed following Soak Me In Bleach, you can take your pick when it comes to an overall moment of brilliance – naturally those attending known every single word, but Drag The Lake and Don’t Lean On Me are sung so loud the volume would bring down the walls of Jericho. Pittsburgh, now officially the home of seemingly every metalhead according to Spotify’s Wrapped, naturally gets a massive response and slower numbers like All Fucked Up and Like Love are full of even more emotion than usual. It’s clear that THE AMITY AFFLICTION mean so much to so many and, at the end of the day, that’s all that matters.
Rating: 8/10
Check out our photo gallery of the night’s action from Izzy Sheldon Photography here:
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