Artist: A Day To Remember
Support: The Story So Far, Every Time I Die and Mallory Knox
Venue: Alexandra Palace, London
Date: 12/02/2014
London’s Ally Pally. What a venue to pick to film live DVD. The room is huge, the sound is always good, and the building is just begging to be slayed by Florida’s A Day To Remember. Thanks to the recent Warped Tours, the show instantly has a festival-feel about it, with over-priced Burgers and no free tap water, and that is bizarrely warming on a freezing February evening.
To kick-off proceedings, The Story So Far take to the stage. Their – albeit generic – blend of pop-punk goes down a treat with the early arrivals, and the fan-favourites ‘Empty Space’ and ‘Quicksand’ generate some respectable movement. They are clearly suited to smaller, more atmospheric venues, but they grab the big-stage opportunity with both hands and leave with more fans than they had 20 minutes ago.
Every Time I Die yank the evening up a notch with their aggressively-fuelled Rock, giving the crowd no option but to pay attention as they bust in to ‘No Son Of Mine’. Although they are quite the contrast to the band before, there are plenty of fans here to mosh hard and get punched in the face, and these guys give them an avenue to do so before 9 o’clock, particularly during ‘Underwater Bimbos From Outer Space’.
Fresh sensations Mallory Knox fly the flag for Britain on this tour, but the main support slot at such a prestigious venue appears a bit much for them. Popular they may be, but tracks like ‘Beggers’ and even ‘Lighthouse’ fall short of the drive needed to keep the momentum going. Vocalist Mikey Chapman sounds on top form, and the band are as tight as expected of a cover-page rock band, but they have made it easy to be blown out of the water in 30 minutes time.
As their biggest headline show to date, A Day To Remember are clearly here to party. They have lugged all of their ‘House Party’ production overseas, and have evidently put in a lot of effort for a short UK stint. Their comical entrance is fantastic (YouTube it!), and the explosion into ‘All I Want’ almost literally sets the room alight. They continue on at a ferocious pace, churning out the likes of ‘2nd Sucks’, ‘Right Back At It Again’, and ‘City Of Ocala’, before taking a short breather with acoustic performances of ‘You Had Me At Hello’ and ‘If It Means a Lot to You’. Jeremy McKinnon sounds far from perfect during the stripped-back section of the set, showing signs of his recent illness, but the crowd give him more than a helping hand on those high notes. Getting out the Zorb Ball and the t-shirt guns re-emphasise their mission to have fun, while still dropping in a serious bomb on ‘Life Lessons Learned The Hard Way’. The introduction to ‘The Downfall Of Us All‘ goes tits up as well, stuttering away as the PA fails them, but they are experienced enough to smash in on time and brush it off.
By filming this show, A Day To Remember have captured every essence of their live performance. Not every part of the production went to plan, and some of the vocals were a bit wobbly, but fans across the global will now be able to witness their unrivalled commitment to entertain. Now boys, get editing so we can re-live the night again, and again.
9/10
Review by: Mattie Borucki
Photos by: Rhian Westbury
