La Dispute/Title Fight
The Garage, London
20th September 2012
From the get go, Title Fight had the audience exactly where they wanted them. Everyone was ferocious, and as eager to sing along with vocalist, Jamie Rhoden. The crowd, ever so relentless, couldn’t help themselves but to climb on the stage at every opportunity.
At any one given time, there were at least three fans either climbing on the stage, or diving off. At first, it was quite cool; fans showing their support and singing along, forgetting about the bruises and jumping into the pit, but the novelty factor soon wore off. If not for the Title Fights’s musicianship, it would’ve been difficult putting up with such distractions. It was impressive to see them pull of a flawless set in the midst of cables being ripped off mics, and roadies on call every few minutes to fix a stand or make sure nothing else was damaged. Gang chants are one thing, but to have the crowd to sing, more like shout, to every word in the set was something else.
Title Fight occasionally drifted off in an almost shoegaze-esque fashion, taking the crowd with them in these calm moments before the storm reappeared. The set list was filled with songs from their debut album ‘Shed’, EP ‘The Last Thing You Forget’, and not forgetting tracks from latest release ‘Floral Green‘. Title Fight pulled of an awesome performance, despite the over eager and somewhat off-putting crowd.
The crowd, the energy, the feel and the atmosphere refined to a less destructive and a more aware audience as heroes La Dispute emerge. The hardcore kids seem to have got crowd surfing out of their systems. La Dispute just make the crowd listen and hang on to every word.
La Dispute, one of bands which make up “The Wave” which have taken Post-Hardcore by storm and stand out because of the their eclectic styles and lyrical content, with the majority of their songs based on true events, accounts and retelling of old stories which they’ve acquired from meeting various people on their travels. And this is precisely why the songs are so gripping. And despite being sad they’re honest memento’s to lives once lived.
Tonight’s set list was varied, covering material from the acclaimed albums ‘Somewhere At The Bottom of the River Between Vega and Altair’ and the most recent ‘Wildlife‘. The show started of with all out bruised bodies and the whole heart shrinks which perfectly exemplifies Jordan Dreyer’s vocal styling, from starting off like a spoken word poem and drifting off to screaming out the rest.
They played, for the first time live, ‘St Paul’s Missionary Baptist Church Blues‘ which was a hit with the crowd. But the outstanding song of the night, one that’s rarely played was ‘Andria’ .
After charging through a truly awesome and emotional set. La Dispute re-emerged for a two song encore. ‘Most Beautiful Bitter Fruit’ and ‘King Park’ which left the crowd roaring out loud “Can I still get in to heaven if i kill myself”. La Dispute need to hit our shores more often, too many people missed out on tonight due to the intimate venue size, plus there are many more epic songs to be heard live.
Words: Arif Noor
Photos: Adam Waugh
Two of the pre-eminent members in burgeoning Post-Hardcore scene ‘The Wave’, La Dispute and Touché Amoré release this brand new split 7”inch Searching For a Pulse / The Worth of the World. This pairing of some of punk’s most exciting young blood means expectations are set high, but the two bands meet them convincingly.