Page 60 - Black Velvet Issue 95

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GOOD CHARLOTTE / AGAINST THE CURRENT / MILK TEETH / NOTHING,NOWHERE. – BIRMINGHAM O2
ACADEMY, 01.12.17
Pop punk fans rejoiced when Good
Charlotte released their first album in six
years in the summer of 2016. Well over a
year later and the band are still going
strong, this time heading to the UK for
their first full headline tour since reform-
ing.
Nothing,nowhere. is Joe Mulherin, a
producer/musician from Vermont. He is
first onstage and you may think that he’s
quite a strange opener for a pop punk
band, although when Good Charlotte took
a break in 2014, Joel and Benji Madden
turned their creativity towards different
areas of music, encompassing everything
from rap to mellowed-out seventies pop.
They’re also fans of hip-hop – so noth-
ing,nowhere. is actually not really that odd
of an opener at all. He and his band de-
liver mellow, atmospheric sounds, with vo-
cals that flip from emo to rap. He tells the
crowd that he’s always looked up to Good
Charlotte, they were his favourite band
growing up and it’s an honour to open for
them.
Kind of like a detour, we’re back on
track with Milk Teeth, a band who we
enjoy more every time we see them. Their
Hole-like grunge rock is quite exciting for
the UK. With songs like ‘Nearby Catfight’
with fuzzy basslines and punchy beats,
this four-piece will make bigger waves in
2018.
Things turn into a bit more of a dance
party for Against The Current. ‘Running
With The Wild Things’ kicks off their set
well and the energy remains high for the
majority of the band’s time on stage.
Frontwoman Chrissy Costanza keeps you
on your feet. Despite not standing still, her
vocals are incredibly strong. She even
manages to bend backwards during
‘Wasteland’. Now with We Are The In
Crowd’s Jordan Eckes added to their tour-
ing line-up, Against The Current are al-
ways a band we’ll bend over backwards
to see.
But the majority of the crowd is really
waiting for Good Charlotte – and their set
of hit after hit after hit is damn near per-
fect. With their ‘GC Jump’ in opener ‘The
Anthem’, the venue bursts into life from
the get-go. Any worries that anyone has,
has been forgotten, as everyone sings
‘Riot Girl’, ‘Life Changes’ and ‘Predictable’
at the top of their lungs. The band do slow
things down for songs such as ‘The Moti-
vation Proclamation’ and the precious
‘Hold On’, where they tell the audience to
never give up and never give in even if
you’re in a dark place, as no matter how
hard you’ve been hit, if you get back up
you’ll be glad in the end. ‘War’ from their
latest ‘Youth Authority’ album has a
tougher edge, not quite pop punk, while
the show comes to its final conclusion
with ‘Lifestyles Of The Rich & Famous’ –
one of the most fun and frenzied songs
out there. These guys have definitely
earned their rich and famous lifestyle, and
as we suspect most nights, in Birming-
ham, Good Charlotte were not just good,
they were great.
YYYYY
Shari Black Velvet
Joel Madden (Good Charlotte) Photo By
Shari Black Velvet
CONCERTS