Source: Ellie Mitchell from Takedown Festival
There are plenty of tears trickling down the faces of girls, and in all honesty if I was the emotional type I would have shed a tear too (but I have a heart of stone). Joking aside I remember seeing The Blackout support the band who must not be named in December 2006. It was one of my first shows (yes I started late!) and I remember being mesmerised by them on stage.
Fast forward over 20 shows, me growing from a 16 year old to a 25 year old, and I still have the same feeling and admiration for the band. I really have grown up with them and witnessed some of my favourite times (who remembers the tour when Skrillex was just Sonny Moore and From First To Last supported them?) Most bands I’ve grown up with either disbanded without a knowing last show, have disbanded and already reunited or are still around, so tonight’s farewell tour is a novel concept for me.
Tonight’s Blackout show is over an hour and a half long, but it went in the blink of an eye with tracks spanning over 2 ep’s, 4 albums (some great and some not so) and latest EP Wolves. They try and cram everything they can into tonight, Sean (Smith) bounces around the stage throwing his mic around, singing with clothing over his face and enough jokes to make it seem like he’s giving Blink a run for their money, while Gavin (Butler) holds the musicial ensemble together. There’s sing-a-longs to every song, whether it’s a slow one or not, the crouching on the floor and the jumping contests- by all means it’s The Blackout as everyone will remember them. They even throw in a medley of the usually un-played tracks from their ep The Blackout, The Blackout, The Blackout which is a huge personal highlight as they haven’t played them in so long I had almost forgotten what they sounded like live. After the medley they ask how many people didn’t know what was going on and a surprisingly large number of hands are thrown into the air and I instantly feel old.
And to The Blackout; I agree with your decision to disband because now I’ll just remember all the great times rather than you just releasing a few more mediocre albums. I’ll remember the circle pits from ‘I’m A Riot? You’re A Fucking Riot’, the rap attempt during ‘Higher & Higher’, the chants during ‘Children Of The Night’ and the emotional singing during ‘Hope (Scream It Out Loud)’.
Dear The Blackout, you’ve been a huge part of my life and for that I am incredibly grateful.
