Page 45 - Black Velvet Issue 101

BV101 pg45_BV101 pg45 13/06/2019 21:16 Page 1

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YYYYY Excellent YYYY Very Good YYY Good

YY Listenable, Just Y Poor

STAND ATLANTIC / IN HER OWN WORDS / SHADED – BIRMINGHAM ASYLUM 2, 03.04.19
With an array of sold out shows on their
first headline UK tour, Stand Atlantic are
proving that they’re one of the hottest up-
and-coming bands around. Previously over
in the UK as support to ROAM and Neck
Deep, the Australians have quickly won over
enough fans to now make their own tour a
success.
UK boys Shaded kick things off with
some very impressive tunes. They’re the
owners of some pitch-perfect pop rock. Vo-
calist Matt East manages some energetic
high jumps in between lines. Songs such as
‘Tell Me’ and ‘Dead Feelings’ bring the
crowd to life and their whole set is a bright
and brilliant performance. With a five-track
EP, ‘A Familiar Love’, under their belts, this
is a band we’ve definitely taken a shine to,
and hope will definitely become a familiar
name on the UK touring circuit.
In Her Own Words make the line-up a
multi-national one, hailing from Los Angeles,
CA. They have a more raw sound. Their pop
punk is more dominant and brawny. The
power-packed ‘Strangers’ features rampant
drumming and serrated guitar riffs, while ‘I
Would Sit Alone In Silence’ shows that the
band are honest and open in their songs,
and unafraid to bleed it all out on stage.
Stand Atlantic are the band everyone is
waiting for, though. “Welcome to the trash
that is our band,” vocalist/guitarist Bonnie
Fraser says early on – although the band
are far from trash. They are actually a joy to
see, and their bouncy, exuberant pop punk
is the perfect mid-week pick-me-up. The
band play all but about two songs off their
debut album, ‘Skinny Dipping’, plus almost
all of their ‘Sidewinder’ EP too. From the
very first song (‘Bullfrog’) there are enthusi-
astic crowd surfers. Luckily, the Asylum 2
has security ready to catch them as they go
over the barrier. “Are you ready to mosh
your pants off?” asks Bonnie before ‘Chem-
icals’, from the ‘Sidewinder’ EP. The audi-
ence is fairly heavily female-based, and it
makes a change to see a female circle pit.
They slow things down for ‘Toothpick’, while
‘Burn In The Afterthought’ continues the ten-
der time. It’s a softer acoustic moment until
the drums and bass join in towards the end.
A couple of fans get on shoulders to show
their approval. Guitarist Potter jumps around
during songs such as the upbeat ‘Roses’
and tour manager Neil joins the band for
final number ‘Coffee At Midnight’, which
sees Bonnie crowd surfing herself at the
end. All in all, it’s a triumphant show for the
Australian band, and we can definitely see
them playing much bigger venues in the
coming years. Tonight, it almost feels like
we’ve stumbled across one of the best-kept
secrets – though we’re sure it won’t be too
long until Stand Atlantic are discovered by
all.
YYYYY
Shari Black Velvet

Bonnie Fraser (Stand Atlantic) Photo By Shari
Black Velvet

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