Billed as The
Road to Download tour this was one of several shows which saw the three
bands preparing for what, arguably, is the biggest three days in the
annual UK rock calender. With Alesana starting the night off,
their brand of screamo, which utilizes the extreme heavy vocals of
Dennis Lee alongside the more emo/pop clean vocals of Adam
Ferguson were utterly entertaining as they moved through songs such as
‘A Most Profound Quiet’, ‘Tilting The Hourglass’, ‘This Conversation Is
Over’, ‘The Uninvited Thirteenth’ and ‘Apology’. Definitely a
good way to start the night.
Although the
crowd had seemed a little on the quiet side for Alesana, that all
changed as The Devil Wears Prada took to the stage, on their first trip
across to the UK. Musically they have similarities to Alesana, sticking
mainly with the screaming of Mike Hranica but with clean vocals making
an occasional appearance. Like Alesana, TDWP were brimming full of
energy and made full use of the stage and despite this being their first
ever visit to England's second city the Birmingham crowd were more than
happy to greet the band were abandon as they ploughed through the likes
of ‘Reptar, King Of The Ozone’, ‘Don’t Dink and Dance’, ‘This Song Is
Called’ and ‘Dogs Can Grow Beards All Over’ which closed the set. It
really was all lapped up by the TDWP devotees.
After having
last being seen here in the UK alongside Maylene And The Sons Of
Disaster back in January, A Day To Remember were back to round off the
evening's entertainment. With an impressive set list the band moved
easily through the likes of ‘A Shot In The Dark’, ‘You Should Have
Killed Me When You Had the Chance’, ‘Monument’ and ‘Heartless’ and
proved as energetic as ever with the crowd returning the sentiment as
the end of the band’s short set came round, cries of one more song
echoing round the Barfly. Ever courteous A Day To Remember duly obliged
withr ‘The Plot To Bomb The Panhandle’ and so ended a most enjoyable
evening's entertainment with all the bands giving it everything they
had, a point not lost on the crowd.
Darren Brushneen
