While fans at folk, jazz and some indie concerts just want to hear live music played well, pop-punk gigs are definitely more of a two way street. Fans are there primarily to have a good time. The band can play their songs note perfect but if the rest of the crowd aren’t up for it, it can be sort of shit.
Decade were second on the Slam Dunk Scotland bill at the Liquid Room. They played anthemic, grungey pop-punk with spot on harmonies with the highlight their new single, British Weather. Typical to such a support slot, the audience were happy to simply listen to their songs.
The next band were Neck Deep, which saw the audience become a lot livelier. The Welsh quintet had a great command over the audience getting them to sing, jump, point and mosh to their 10 song set. The success of their set may be due recent popularity; the energy of their music or the animation of lead singer who was singing to the audience as though the girl he was smiting was standing in the front row. The band were so popular that a large portion of the audience started chanting for an encore.
This encore request was unsuccessful, however, as Neck Deep had to make way for Hit The Lights. They definitely could have though as Hit The Lights hit the stage half an hour after Neck Deep’s set had ended. The band informed the crowd that British Airways had lost their instruments and guitarist, Omar Zehery was unable to travel the UK. They had to borrow instruments and lead singer, Nick Thompson, had to also fill in for guitar, which he did efficiently. Due to the problems, Hit The Lights only played four of their biggest and best hits to the Edinburgh crowd. Although the band were popular when the songs they played were released (all of which were at least six years old), the crowd did not seem as well versed with Hit The Lights as they were with Neck Deep due to the youthful nature of their genre. It'll be interesting to see whether Neck Deep are still as popular five years from now.
We Are The In Crowd played a great set involving tracks from their new album, Weird Kids, Best Intentions and from their debut EP, Guaranteed To Disagree. Most of the tracks had been released as singles making their set almost a greatest hits collection.
They started their set with ‘Long Live The Kids’. This worked as an effective opener with the steady intro acting as an introduction to the set. Once the song kicked off, the crowd became incredibly energetic. This energy remained as they played, gutsy single, ‘The Best Thing That Ever Happened’ and throughout the rest of the set. Unusually, during, ‘Kiss Me Again’, a section of the audience started a moshpit perhaps winning the award for ‘Softest Song People Have Ever Moshed To’. It was also nice to see We Are The In Crowd feeding off of the crowd’s enthusiasm.
The entire band were incredibly charismatic throughout the gig. Their energetic set featured jumps, spinning guitars also saw the group interact with the audience, pointing out the “Here we fucking go!” chants they always receive in Scotland and claiming that they brought it to America. Rather, than leaving the stage for their encore, they joked that the audience should just turn away then look back, which about half the crowd did. This may have been due to time constraints but was still refreshingly honest.
Before the gig, I had pegged We Are The In Crowd as a second rate Paramore. However, this evening proved that they're a very fun, charismatic pop band with a large number of great songs. Had I been with friends, chances are that I would have been involved in the various moshpits myself.
Decade were second on the Slam Dunk Scotland bill at the Liquid Room. They played anthemic, grungey pop-punk with spot on harmonies with the highlight their new single, British Weather. Typical to such a support slot, the audience were happy to simply listen to their songs.
The next band were Neck Deep, which saw the audience become a lot livelier. The Welsh quintet had a great command over the audience getting them to sing, jump, point and mosh to their 10 song set. The success of their set may be due recent popularity; the energy of their music or the animation of lead singer who was singing to the audience as though the girl he was smiting was standing in the front row. The band were so popular that a large portion of the audience started chanting for an encore.
This encore request was unsuccessful, however, as Neck Deep had to make way for Hit The Lights. They definitely could have though as Hit The Lights hit the stage half an hour after Neck Deep’s set had ended. The band informed the crowd that British Airways had lost their instruments and guitarist, Omar Zehery was unable to travel the UK. They had to borrow instruments and lead singer, Nick Thompson, had to also fill in for guitar, which he did efficiently. Due to the problems, Hit The Lights only played four of their biggest and best hits to the Edinburgh crowd. Although the band were popular when the songs they played were released (all of which were at least six years old), the crowd did not seem as well versed with Hit The Lights as they were with Neck Deep due to the youthful nature of their genre. It'll be interesting to see whether Neck Deep are still as popular five years from now.
We Are The In Crowd played a great set involving tracks from their new album, Weird Kids, Best Intentions and from their debut EP, Guaranteed To Disagree. Most of the tracks had been released as singles making their set almost a greatest hits collection.
They started their set with ‘Long Live The Kids’. This worked as an effective opener with the steady intro acting as an introduction to the set. Once the song kicked off, the crowd became incredibly energetic. This energy remained as they played, gutsy single, ‘The Best Thing That Ever Happened’ and throughout the rest of the set. Unusually, during, ‘Kiss Me Again’, a section of the audience started a moshpit perhaps winning the award for ‘Softest Song People Have Ever Moshed To’. It was also nice to see We Are The In Crowd feeding off of the crowd’s enthusiasm.
The entire band were incredibly charismatic throughout the gig. Their energetic set featured jumps, spinning guitars also saw the group interact with the audience, pointing out the “Here we fucking go!” chants they always receive in Scotland and claiming that they brought it to America. Rather, than leaving the stage for their encore, they joked that the audience should just turn away then look back, which about half the crowd did. This may have been due to time constraints but was still refreshingly honest.
Before the gig, I had pegged We Are The In Crowd as a second rate Paramore. However, this evening proved that they're a very fun, charismatic pop band with a large number of great songs. Had I been with friends, chances are that I would have been involved in the various moshpits myself.
Grant Robertson
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