First to make an explosive appearance on stage were 5 piece York band With One Last Breath. They gave a powerful performance of melodic metalcore that had the crowd moving instantly. Vocalist Sam Grave and bassist Joe Lancaster had enough stage precence and energy to capture everyones attention and get them involved in their performance, which is often difficult for the opening, and sometimes unknown to the majority of the crowd, band to achieve.
Next to take to the stage were Issues. For a band with a relatively short history, their debut EP only having being released in November 2012, the Atlantan metalcore six piece are definitely making their mark in the music scene. Opening with Hooligans, clean vocalist Tyler Carter was already working the crowd into a frenzy – I’ve never actually feared for the health of a venue floor before, but with the entire audience moving incessantly I wouldn’t have been surprised if from the outside it seemed like there was an earthquake emanating from the tiny but extrememly packed O2. Princeton Ave is by far the highlight of the set, the lyrics are beautiful and the song begins with a calm pianao intro with Tyler Carter’s melodic clean vocals asking us ‘What is a man, who lays a hand on his lover?’ that quickly transitions into Michael Bohn’s signature screams and growls. Issues are a fabulous band that give one hell of a live perfomance.
The final act of the night, storming onto the stage greeted with rapturous screaming, were Crown The Empire. With their combination of metalcore and electronic infused metal these are not a band you will be forgetting anytime soon. The band kicked off their highly energetic set with Johnny’s Revenge, the drums are loud, the guitars thundering and the vocals heavy. These are not a band to be ignored, the floor shook, the mosh pits were crazy and the atmosphere was electric.
My only critcism of both Issues and Crown The Empire was that their crowd interaction didn’t really extend much past ‘London you have been the best crowd so far!’, but did this matter? Not in the slightest.
TheMusicReview 