Kerrang Tour – Fearless Vampire Killers, Tonight Alive, Chiodos, Black Veil Brides – O2 Arena, Newcastle
It takes quite a bit to get me to venture out on a very cold February night, I’m a bit of a wuss when it comes to the cold weather, but lured by the promise of four great bands playing on one night plus a drink or three courtesy of our editor was something even I can’t resist for long. So bundled up like an extra from Narnia I set out into the very cold night in search of alcohol and good music. The Kerrang tour has been making its merry way up the country and tonight it was coming to the O2 Arena in Newcastle a venue I’m quite familiar with though in truth not overly fond of. It seems to lack any of the quirky friendliness of some of our other more intimate venues up here in the North East nor does it have the sweeping scale and epic feel of the Metro Arena it’s sort of stuck in the middle of the two and somehow manages to be both something and nothing at the same time but it does have a purpose as there are few venues up here that could pack in as many people as were here tonight. We spent a merry hour across the road in a very nice warm pub watching an epic line of cold hormonally driven teenagers and their guardians waiting for the doors of the O2 to open, the joys of being over eighteen. The waiting line was huge and stretched right down the road and round the corner out of sight. I really do have to give credit to the people waiting patiently to get inside given the mainstream media’s attempts to demonise teenagers as thugs and delinquents they were very well behaved. I watched a bit of rough housing and joshing going on but mostly they seemed to be in good spirits joking with each other as they waited calmly to be let in. Soon enough the doors opened and once the majority had made their way in we left our nice warm pub and joined the back of the line.
We made it inside about half way through the set of Fearless Vampire Killers and I was glad I had managed to see some of their set. I had seen them headline the Killing Is Dead tour a few months ago (read the review here and had a chat with Drew from the band recently (read the interview here and was very excited about seeing them again. They were even better than last time; playing to bigger audiences really suits these guys and the crowd gave them a very warm reception. Their set was tighter and more professional but they still retained that joy of playing and sense of fun that had made them so enjoyable the first time around. Sadly as I hadn’t been able to get in in time for the first three songs of the show so my photo pass didn’t allow me to take any pictures and I couldn’t find a suitable spot further back to get a good sly shot of the band without a person’s arm or head obscuring the view. Disappointing for me personally as they really are good fun to take pictures of being young and handsome but I’m sure I’ll get another chance soon enough as they seem to be a band that are staring to find their feet and are amassing quite a following on the social media websites. They really do put on a good show and seem to enjoy their onstage theatrics but you always get a sense that they are having a good time up there which is always nice to see.
Next up was the female fronted pop punk (?) band Tonight Alive. I’m quite a fan of pop punk and really enjoyed seeing Bowling For Soup last year who were supported by the Dollyrots on their One Big Happy tour. I’d seen a few you tube videos of Tonight Alive and thought they sounded a bit like Dollyrots so I was expecting something similar from them onstage. Where Dollyrots had been more punk than pop live the reverse was true for Tonight Alive who played more pop collage soft rock punk than pop punk. It was technically very good and the crowd had a good time but it just seemed to miss the mark for me a little and I was slightly disappointed by what they played though when the crowd held up their lighters, mobiles and cameras for one of their softer more melodic numbers it was quite a sight.
After a brief interlude where the roadies scurried about on stage setting up for the next band Chiodos took to the stage shrouded in darkness to a thunderous roar from the massed teenagers. I wasn’t looking forward to this band as their vocals are screemo and that has never been my thing, call me picky but I do actually want to hear what the words to a song are and with screemo you could be singing about fluffy bunnies or clouds for all I know and I find that a little annoying. Despite that though I have to say I was very impressed with Chiodos. They were energetic on stage and their music wasn’t completely screemo and actually had some very good vocal harmonies going on. The crowd, who had been energetic before, were whipped into an almost frenzy and there was even a good old fashioned mosh pit that opened up in the middle of the crowd and a few chicken fights going on around its edges… well that’s what the lead singer called them but mostly it just seemed to be more of the pushing and shoving that happens at the edges of every decent mosh pit but then again the lead singers viewpoint of the action was a lot better than mine so I may be wrong on that score. As the set continued and the crowed upped their energy level even more I did see security at the front pulling at least one girl from the crowd who appeared to have fainted, maybe it was the heat, or the hormones, or the flashes of bare chest and crotch grabbing (he did seem to do that a lot. On that note why do men do that? Do they think that somewhere between getting dressed that morning and the moment they grab themselves it might have dropped off? I’m fairly certain they would notice if that had happened.) from the lead singer that had overwhelmed her but it was good to see she was being taken care of and security did a great job running back and forth along the front of the crowd handing out water to those in need. In their final song of their set the lead guitarist bravely waded out into the front ranks of the crowd much to enjoyment of the young girls who descended upon him and managed to re-emerge with most of his clothing intact which was quite an impressive feat after their last number about “dirty dirty sex” had sent most of the teenage females into a hormone fuelled ecstasy.
It seemed to take an age before Black Veil Brides took to the stage, they tested the lights, they tested the smoke machine, they tested and tested and tested, roadies scurried back and forth on stage and the crowd chanted three times for the band and shuffled restlessly. Eventually the band came on and if I thought the crowd had been responsive to the previous bands it was nothing compared to how they greeted Black Veil Brides. The only thing that saved the opening song from being drowned out by the screams and roars from the crowd was the mega sound system and even then it was a close thing. Sadly as I watched and tried to snap the occasional sly picture I found myself becoming more and more distanced from what was happening on stage, it was a very slick performance, perhaps too much so. They were good musically and moved around on stage a lot but you got the feeling that every move and pose had been very carefully choreographed and that seemed to take something away from the show. They lacked the spontaneous enthusiasm that had been so evident with Fearless Vampire Killers and the bad bot attitude of Chiodos and what we were left with was a bit like watching Marilyn Manson on stage minus the glam slut attitude. The only time the band seemed to be truly happy onstage was when they played ‘Rebel Love Song’ which the crowd really loved as well singing along to it with gusto. It was a good show but it was simply too stylised, too choreographed, and too scripted to be really enjoyable from my point of view.
Overall though it was a good night and for the quality of the bands on it would be worth going along to see. Of the four bands I saw the clear stars were Fearless Vampire Killers and Chiodos and I would happily brave another cold night to watch them play again. 8/10
Words & photos by Helen Todner
The Kerrang tour continues:
Feb 13th – Sheffield – O2 Academy
Feb 14th – Birmingham – O2 Academy
Feb 15th – London – O2 Academy Brixton