Bayside, Pierce The Veil and A Day to Remember 2/2/11

Last night, I attended the A Day To Remember tour at the Birmingham o2 academy. As I made my way towards the academy, the queue was visible from many roads away. The turn out for this gig was amazing; it was probably one of the fullest gigs I’ve ever seen at the o2, mind you it was to be expected considering the sold-out tour and how popular A Day To Remember have become recently since their latest album ‘What Separates Me From You’ was released in November.

After a long time outside in the queue, I got into the academy at around half seven-ish; when Pierce The Veil came on stage. They were met by many cheers and opened with ‘Yeah Boy and Doll Face’, which is one of my favourite songs by PTV. Vic Fuentes’ voice was incredible and filled out the whole academy. The band had lots of energy and they were fascinating to watch. After they finished that song, they went into a cover of the popular song ‘Like a G6’, which was a real crowd-pleaser and created many mosh pits and circle pits. The next song that they played was even wilder, not because of the band but because of the crowd’s reaction when Jeremy McKinnon (lead singer of A Day To Remember) came on stage to perform backing vocals. All in all, they were an amazing live band and I think they’ve gained a lot of new fans from their pretty much flawless performance; they really got the crowd ready for the brutality of A Day To Remember.

The next band on were Bayside; a rock band from New York. However, the crowd didn’t sound excited for when they came on stage; they were not greeted with an inviting reaction. Nevertheless, they started their set and after the first couple of songs there was the smell of regret (and sweat… lots of sweat) amongst the crowd and they seemed more inviting and started to enjoy their set. The sound of Bayside’s set seemed a lot calmer than Pierce The Veil’s and it almost created a restless atmosphere amongst the crowd; they wanted A Day To Remember and they wanted them now. I honestly have nothing against Bayside, I personally think they were pretty good live but I do not think that they were the right genre of music for such a pit-loving crowd and that they needed a heavier band to set the right atmosphere.

As soon as A Day To Remember came on stage all hell broke loose; it was absolutely insane. I had seen them before (when they supported Bring Me The Horizon a few years ago) so I knew that the atmosphere was going to be mental, but it was incredible to see so many people inspired by what used to just be small band from Florida. They opened with ‘2^nd Sucks’ which set the style for most of their set; heavy guitar riffs, powerful lyrics and a mixture of screaming and singing. They played a mixture of older songs, such as ‘I’m Made Of Wax, Larry, What Are You Made Of’, ‘Mr Highway’s Thinking About The End’ and ‘Homesick’, whilst still playing newer songs such as their recent popular single’ All I Want’, ‘The House That Doubt Built’ and ‘Sticks & Bricks’. I honestly have a lot of respect for Jeremy McKinnon as he can scream so powerfully, but he can also sing so beautifully; it’s so much better than most of the generic ‘screamo’ bands that are around today that couldn’t hold a note to save their lives. Jeremy proved what an amazing voice he had when he came onstage for the encore with an acoustic guitar and played ‘If It Means A Lot To You’; it was beautiful. When they played the popular song, ‘The Downfall Of Us All’, it was received by many crowd surfers and even more insane pits; it was obvious it was a real favourite amongst the fans. The last song was ‘The Plot To Bomb The Panhandle’ and it was an amazing song to end on.

 All in all, it was a great gig and was worth badly injuring my foot and the bruises. It wasn’t just a day to remember; it was definitely a night to remember too!