Simon Rushworth
@ Newcastle University, March 9 2010
A Day to Remember at Newcastle University was a good venue choice after the show sold out quicker than expected at the O2 Academy and had to be upgraded to a larger room.
The band’s headlining tour is mostly sold out and tonight fans seemed to turn out for the two support acts just as much as for the headliners.
Your Demise took to the stage first and although the whole room wasn’t buzzing, a handful of people set about ‘moshing’ before the band had even played a note.
What ensued was an energetic performance from new vocalist Ed McRae, yet a display lacking in enthusiasm from the rest of the band. The vocalist managed to spur on the crowd but in between songs his words sounded so contrived it was almost as though he were checking all the boxes scrawled on the back of his hand.
At least none of the bands did the generic thing of declaring the current audience and town as the best they’ve played. We’ve all heard that one before.
Next up were Architects which sounds more like a name for an Indie band. But I was pleasantly surprised by a fast paced and energetic set. A Day To Remember members stood to the side showing support for their own support acts; the band played a surprisingly technical set and appeared much improved on their previous incarnation as a bland metal band and a lame take off of Bring Me The Horizon.
The much anticipated A Day To Remember kicked off their set with Fast Forward to 2012 after a dramatic entrance. It appeared that the room was full of new fans that had mostly only turned up after hearing the new album Homesick and only a handful recognised songs off the old albums.
It was a tad disappointing to see that Jeremy refused to share the mic with his fans who were stood screaming the words in his face. The band played songs like A Shot in the Dark, Heartless and the popular The Plot to bomb the Panhandle seemingly to get the crowd going but a more passionate performance would have worked just as well.
The set was short and all in all it was a good night but a disappointing headline performance. It was the first night of a huge tour so just why ADTR weren’t more enthusiastic is anyone’s guess.
Chiara Giordano