Band: The Blackout
Venue: O2 Academy Islington, London
Support: Rat Attack, LostAlone
Date: 18/01/14
When six-piece rockers The Blackout, hailed from Merthyr Tydfil announced at the end of last year that co-frontman Gavin Butler fell ill and had to cancel many tour dates, all seemed doom and gloom for the band. But they’ve returned with their second date on tour at London’s O2 Academy Islington, playing their much loved record ‘Best In Town’ in full alongside other favourites. Here’s what we thought of tonight’s offerings.
Party punk four-piece Rat Attack open the bill hailing their 2013 self titled EP. As the lights come down in the venue, signalling the opening of the set, usual expected riffs and strums are not present. Snippets of Eminem’s classic ‘Lose Yourself’ bounce off the walls with a slight awkward cheesiness. But its short lived as front man Mike Hodges erupts onto the stage with faultless passion and oozing energy with self-admitant damaged vocal chords from illness. This doesn’t phase them though. The harmonious partnership of vocals combined with raucous breakdowns more than make up for the odd flat note. As they win over the crowd with their latest single ‘Saturday Night Feeling’ (accompanied by glitzy Saturday Night Fever-esque tee from Hodges), the crowd energise and groove in sync with Hodges whom boomerangs amongst guitar riffs and fetching drum beats across the stage and later says “I want everyone to do the weirdest dance they possibly can…If you don’t do it, I’m going assume you’re boring as fuck.”. Ending with sing-offs, mosh-pits and impressive background vocal unity, Rat Attack certainly made their mark.
“On an endless musical, riffological, epic melodic quest” confessed trio LostAlone follow with an eery opening to a crowd who appear to have lost a bit of lack-luster. But they ensure that soon changes. Their bombastic, deadly riffs combined with Billie-Joe Armstrong style hooks for the crowd from frontman Steven Battelle ensures for a set that’s nothing less than vivacious. Although they try to add slower sections, the bombardment of riffs attack the audience throughout, that almost catches you too overwhelmed at points. However, their strong musicality and quirky elements such as referring to the audience as fish (you heard right) set them apart from trying too hard with endless breakdowns. Battelle gets involved with the crowd at barrier point, and he’s rewarded with fist pumping and ultimately the chant of “LostAlone! LostAlone! LostAlone!” from the room. What must be said though, spelling out the word ‘guilty’ in your song? C’mon now, we can spell!
As the crowd begin to chant “We are the dynamite!”, The Blackout surge onto the stage and instantaneously wipe the floor of their predecessors. Brutality kicks in as mosh-pits emerge in the room before even ten seconds of ‘Best In Town’ opener ‘Shut-The-Fuck-Uppercut’ goes by with co-frontman Sean Smith diving into the crowd. As the Academy fills with nostalgia (alongside Sean’s hair-do), the crowd act as rivals to the band; through fierce energy throughout the entirety of the album. An album that brings back memories for all long-time fans. Sean’s ruthless screams during ‘The Fire’ ripple the nerves in the body, and work in sync with Gavin’s voice like they’ve had a lease of re-invigoration. As the set filters through all the crowd favourites, the circle pits get bigger and bigger, almost to the point of needing to upgrade venue (not that that’s possible). The room quickly becomes a sweat laden box, but not that anyone cares. ‘Silent (When We Speak)’ acts as an interlude showcasing that its not just post-hardcore this band can master, they’ve got the pipes and notes. As the set changes from ‘Best In Town’ to other loved material, Sean says “Its time to dance bitches!” when the set shifts to the content from their first demo EP ‘The Blackout! The Blackout! The Blackout!’. The crowd take hold of it and show their appreciation through a mental display of handstands. The band also provide their much adored humour and cheekiness as Sean whacks out groovy moves and throws out banter to the audience. As the set concludes with ‘Higher and Higher’, it seems this band are on top of their game, and at the best form they’ve ever been. Going back to their roots has proved to the best tour decision they’ve made.
8/10
Review by: Emma Younger
Photos by: Joe Strudwick
