Brixton Academy has, in it’s past, put on some absolutely world-class gigs – tonight is no different. Tonight, the city of London will decide whether Fightstar are still a credible band, or whether they’re just that thing Charlie Simpson did for a bit. Are they a quality musical force, or just nostalgia that doesn’t quite hold up any more?
London metallers Shvpes were the first to grace the stage. Clearly not fazed by the distinct lack of crowd, they threw themselves out there regardless. A few fans who perhaps remember them as Cytota could be seen shouting along to a few songs, but even when frontman Griffin Dickinson jumped off the stage and started haranguing the crowd, there were too few people for that much to happen. They may not win any awards for musical ingenuity any time soon but they know how to put on a damn good show.
More Dangerous Animals were perhaps a slightly better fit for the night’s proceedings. Their hard rock/punk riffs, though commendable pieces of music, unfortunately drowned out the multiple vocal layers more often than not. It could be clearly seen that a lot of effort was going into their performance, but not much of it was going into crowd interaction, save for the few clap-along moments they had to offer.
Emo quartet Moose Blood seemed to be the most popular choice by a country mile for tonight’s supports. Their stripped-back stage set up and somewhat sombre music helped create an atmosphere that dragged you in whether you liked it or not; an atmosphere made that bit more special by them being the first band tonight to have a noticeable following in the crowd. Again, they just seemed to move through their set pausing only to thank the crowd a couple of times, but you would be hard pressed to deny that people were enjoying the experience.
However, from the very moment that Fightstar’s intro music started playing it was abundantly clear who the crowd tonight belong to. What Fightstar brought was more than just a nostalgia trip for those of us who used to like them in the “it’s not a phase mum” phase – it was a clear message that this band were far from over, a message to all those who said that they were done that this was far from the truth.
Evidently they have not spent their hiatus simply doing nothing. Charlie Simpson’s vocals were more than on point throughout. All the way from opening sing-along fest ‘Paint Your Target’¸ through to the utterly barmy ‘Deathcar’ (which featured Charlie’s brother Will helping on guitar duties) to closer ‘Mono’, his iconic voice never failed to astound. Alex Westaway has also vastly improved his live vocal skills since their last tour as well, and Dan Haigh and Omar Abidi were even tighter than their usual high standard.
By the time Fightstar left the crowd with an immense feeling of satisfaction and a promise that new music is on the way, there was hardly a person in the room who hadn’t shouted their lungs out to some songs that maybe some people had forgotten the true quality of.
Review by: Andy Leddington
Photos by: Kennerdeigh Scott
