Page 50 - Black Velvet Rock Music Magazine Issue 92

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LOWER THAN ATLANTIS / YOUNG GUNS / HANDS LIKE HOUSES / ROAM – BIRMINGHAM O2 ACADEMY,
10.03.17
Lower Than Atlantis’s ‘Safe In Sound’ headline tour has been much them a lot more in the future.
anticipated, not least because they also have three creditable bands sup- Kicking their set off with ‘Mad World’, from their latest album, ‘Echoes’,
porting them, making it a top night for all. ROAM, of course, are the least Young Guns are headliners too in their own right. Their set emits a lot of
known and on first; a hard-working five-piece from Eastbourne, which also power, although some of it comes from backing tracks which vocalist Gus-
happens to be home of Toploader. These guys are far from ‘Dancing In tav Wood, in a ‘Prettylittlething’ bomber jacket, seems to be in charge of,
The Moonlight’, they’re more like high kicking the stars out of the sky. Alex bending down between songs to press. ‘Buried’ bursts with infectious en-
Costello frequently jumps around as their highly energetic pop-punk fuels ergy, while Gus explains that ‘You Are Not’ is a song aimed to remind
their passion and the fans in the crowd. ‘Deadweight’ is a fast moshpit- everyone to focus on the positives rather than negatives. ‘Speaking In
making riot, while ‘Hopeless Case’ and ‘All The Same’ merge melody with Tongues’ is dancey but dark, while the emphatic ‘I Want Out’ is the perfect
rough punk aesthetics. ending, like standing on a cliff looking out across miles and miles of glori-
Hands Like Houses from Canberra, Australia tell the crowd they usu- ous landscapes. We definitely don’t want out of any Young Guns shows.
ally headline in their home country, but in the UK they’re still climbing up “You mad c*nts,” Mike Duce of Lower Than Atlantis comments, before
the ladder. We’re sure they’ll get to the top though, as songs like ‘Per- adding, “You know when c*nt is a term of endearment for your mates...”
spectives’ and ‘Colourblind’ are epic pieces of artistic work. They have a With a setlist that kicks off with ‘Had Enough’ and ‘Dumb’ from new album,
volcanic tone, atmospheric vocals and creative musicianship. It’s a pleas- ‘Safe In Sound’ and then ‘Emily’ from their self-titled album, the ‘c*nts’ in
ure to see these guys and we wouldn’t be surprised if we start seeing the crowd are definitely happy to have Lower Than Atlantis back in Birm-
ingham. Later in the set, Mike comments about how they played the small
Academy 3 about ten times, before moving up to the Academy 2 and now
finally playing the main Academy. It’s not sold out but there are a lot of

fans in attendance. The Watford band has definitely grown; you can hear very brave considering his voice! The crowd again know every word
it in their songs, and it’s no wonder more and more people are catching though. Everyone’s excited to hear the fun and bouncy ‘English Kids In
on to them. Before ‘Work For It’, Mike tells the crowd his voice is “fucked, America’, while Mike tells the crowd he’ll come into the crowd if they sing
so I’m gonna teach you the chorus” – although most people know the cho- final song ‘Here We Go’ loud enough. He does, before getting back to the
rus already. Apparently he only got about six hours sleep in the last two stage at the end to throw an amp on the stage. As we leave the venue,
days. Mike’s throat definitely is a bit rough in places. You can hear it par- we hear a couple who are walking behind saying, “I didn’t expect it to be
ticularly in ‘Criminal’. that good,” and “I’m amazed.” We take it they enjoyed the show then. We
They get the crowd to crouch on the floor before jumping up in ‘Beech did too.
Like The Tree’, while the audience sings along loudly to ‘Words Don’t YYYY
Come So Easily’. He bows down to the crowd for their great job. ‘Another SBV
Sad Song’ opens the encore and sees Mike begin it on his own, which is Mike Duce (Lower Than Atlantis) Photo By Shari Black Velvet
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