Page 61 - Black Velvet Issue 88

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TONIGHT ALIVE / OUR LAST NIGHT / MILK TEETH – BIRMINGHAM O2 INSTITUTE, 26.02.16

It’s a week before Tonight Alive’s
new album, ‘Limitless’, is due out, and
they’re wrapping up their UK tour with
a show at Birmingham O2 Institute. The
band have previewed videos of four
songs, and now it’s time to hear them
live.
Milk Teeth are up first, a Stroud-
based band, with a grunge element to
their music. Songs such as ‘Brickwork’
and ‘Brain Food’ have a sort of riot grrl
impact to them along with a moody 90s
indie style. ‘Kabuki’, a short, almost in-
terlude song under 2 minutes in length,
has a melancholy Hole vibe. Front-
woman Becky speaks of having been
in a bad place, and says she’s proof
that you can get through it and be al-
right on the other side. Final song ‘Vit-
amins’ has a bouncy, boisterous
rampage to it. A solid set by a band that
will continue to rise.
Our Last Night have been a band
since 2004. Over that time they have
evolved from a post-hardcore band
with a lot of unclean vocals to a more
melodic pop-rock band with a lot more
clean vocals. Their set features a lot of
songs from their new album, ‘Younger
Dreams’. Songs such as ‘Road To The
Throne’ are vibrant and exciting. Trevor
Wentworth has a good singing voice.
He can sing as well as he can scream,
which is something that many scream-
ers are unable to do. ‘We’re burning
brighter’, they sing, and Our Last Night
really are. Their set is enjoyable and
shows a promising future for the band.
Tonight Alive kick off with new song
‘To Be Free’ and are on fire from the get
go. Jenna McDougall’s vocals are a
force to be reckoned with. Tonight Alive
show they’re head and shoulders
above other bands with the quality of
their songs, singing and playing. There
is nothing to fault. At all. Ever. Stephen
Sutton gets a tribute before the song
‘Amelia’, like last year. He passed away
from cancer but lives on in Tonight
Alive’s memory and Birmingham
shows. Jenna and Whakaio perform
‘The Other Side’ and ‘Safe And Sound’
acoustically, on their own, sat down on
the riser at the front. Jenna even lies
down at one point and still sounds per-
fect as she sings.
There’s an impromptu cover of
Blink-182’s ‘Dammit’, while later in the
set the band treat us to their version of
Ronan Keating’s ‘When You Say Noth-
ing At All’, which they’ve had as part of
their set through the tour. Jenna also
gives a great speech before ‘Wasting
Away’ about how every person is pow-
erful and has a purpose. ‘How Does it
Feel’ starts an energizing encore that
ends with ‘Lonely Girl’. Tonight Alive
are definitely the band for the lonely
girl, lonely boy and everyone else.
Their set is one that can cleanse your
soul and make you feel refreshed
again. Tonight we all go home feeling
well and truly alive.
YYYYY
SBV
Jenna McDougall (Tonight Alive)
Photo By Shari Black Velvet
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