Band: We Are The Ocean
Support: Yashin
Venue: The Koko, London
Date: 1st February 2013
The Koko in London is probably one of my personal favourite venues, so when We Are The Ocean were announced to play there, obviously it would have been rude not to attend. Support came from Scottish perfectionists Yashin who tonight pretty much completely smashed their entire set as expected. This not being the first time we have seen these guys live, we knew to expect top-notch performance skills.
Vocalist Kevin Miles screams are insane; there were moments when you had to stand back and argue with yourself if they were actually real. Sounding completely identical to how they are recorded proves how talented this guy really is. Harry Radford’s vocals are exactly the same when it comes to talent, these lads must practise every second of the day!
Set highlights come from the bands most recent album release ‘We Created A Monster’ which HTF gave a 10/10 score for a reason, because it’s awesome! ‘Runaway Train’ and ‘Make It Out Alive’ sound huge on their record alone so live it was simply over exciting; you feel rude not throwing yourself into the wild part of the crowd and fist pumping along with the fans! By the time the band’s set was over the crowd had warmed up nicely and ready for some WATO vibes. 9/10
We Are The Ocean get regular Radio 1 play for a reason, because their material is versatile and everyone loves it. It is always nice to see other bands supporting UK high flyers too; members of You Me At Six, Lower Than Atlantis and Canterbury were in attendance of tonight’s show, coming along as they enjoy the band live as much as the next person.
With three albums to choose from the bands set was always going to be golden. Every album they have smashed out has handfuls of tracks that you cannot get enough of. ‘Cutting Our Teeth’ track – the shiner – ‘Confessions’, is one of those belters that the band will never remove from their A4 set list of goodness. Along with ‘Go Now And Lives’, ‘The Waiting Room’ and ‘What It Feels Like’, now revamped and stronger than ever!
We were delighted that they gave us an encore of new album beauty ‘Chin Up, Son’, beyond heart melting, especially in a venue as picturesque as the Koko. It was not just a moment of greatness for the onlooker; we can only imagine how humbling it was for the band themselves.
They closed with ‘Young Heart’, which sits in pride of place on the Radio 1 B List. The entire crowd sang along with the band that tonight completely owned the venue and its audience; they hands down cemented themselves as a UK band to be reckoned with tonight. If you are yet to see these guys live in action you are ultimately missing out; do it! We promise you they will not disappoint!
10/10
Reviewer: Steph Knight
