London Barfly
05.06.08
A Day To Remember headline the ‘Road To Download’ tour at the Barfly tonight with Alesana and the Devil Wears Prada. It’s all of these bands’ first performance of the tour and although I miss the first two, from the show ADTR put on you’d think they were old friends of the UK even though they’ve only graced these shores once before. The room is lively from the outset and when vocalist Jeremy growls ‘Pick up your feet!’ the crowd does just that.
There’s also much singing / chanting along tonight with a great feeling of comradery. This band’s bizarre mix of pop-punk and hardcore has one over-riding feature in their crucial beatdowns that always seem to obliterate what has gone before no matter how melodic. Jeremy makes a claw action with one hand and the pit opens wide up. ‘A Shot In The Dark‘ pummels with intent and drives the crowd into a frenzied circle. The lyrics ‘Mark my words, we’re taking over the world’ have never sounded more appropriate as people start invading the stage much to the glee of the band.
The claw hand action is adopted by every member at one point during one of the aforementioned beatdowns and it seems that these guys can do no wrong. Kelly Clarkson’s ‘Since U Been Gone‘ is a definite highlight and fuels the singalong factor with A Day To Remember’s heady combination of supreme melody and grinding heaviness.
It’s a surprisingly good rendition despite sounding a little like punk rock karaoke. A crowd clapalong cements the track as an integral part of their appeal despite the crowd remaining transfixed and actually being the most static that they have all night. A new song follows soon after and sounds rather meatier than much of their older material boding well for what’s to come from these guys. After this things descend into madness somewhat but the band is still tight and unphased by the overwhelming reaction. ‘The Plot To Bomb The Panhandle‘ rounds off the evening in style and it’s clear that this is a hit. Mark my words they’re taking over the world.
Winegums