Amy Gravelle (@AmyGravelle) checks out a host of acts about to tour, here’s her recent highlights that will be playing a UK venue near you soon.
In the warm up to Reading and Leeds Festival this weekend (22-24 August) I attended a few warm-up gigs across London to put me in the mood. First on my list was Lower Than Atlantis, who played a small and rather sweaty show at Dingwalls in Camden (31 July). New single Here We Go was a hard-hitting opener filled with energetic bursts that sent the crowd spiraling straight into a frantic mosh pit. There wasn’t any time for messing around either, as the band continued to push through a strong setlist filled with popular oldies such as Another Sad Song and Love Someone Else. It wasn’t just the old tracks that managed to get the crowd riled up though, with lead singer Mike Duce giving us a few previews of their self-titled new album, which is to be released next month (29 September).
On the road: Reading and Leeds (22-24 August)
“We’re gonna play hit after hit, which is like sex, I just want to keep doing and doing it to ya,” jokes a sweaty Tom DeLonge… Hmm, well it looks like Blink-182 are as mature as ever then. But with the band’s upcoming headline spot at Reading & Leeds they clearly wanted to shift things up a gear, and get match fit with a date for the most loyal among their fanbase at Brixton Academy (8 August). As they hurled into First Date and All The Small Things, which are energetically driven by drummer Travis Barker’s tight rhythmic sections and ability to sync the band together, it’s already apparent that through their many years together Blink-182 have tightened up any loose ends along the way. During an encore the band walk onto the stage as the word “Fuck” is lit up in flames, for fans to marvel at in comical delight. It turns out that no matter how mature they may appear to be (at very few fleeting times that is), Blink 182 will always leave us with amusing surprises to keep things fresh.
On the road: Reading and Leeds (22-24 August)
A band who aren’t actually playing this weekend’s festival this year, but ought to be in the near future, are Dublin’s Only Rivals, who supported post-hardcore band Finch last week at The Underworld in Camden (13 August). Already enjoying quite a bit of buzz, the rock/pop punk outfit kicked things off with opening track Borders which instantly justified the growing attention. It’s very easy to see why Only Rivals are so appealing, with their Irish charm and banter ensuring there’s no awkward gaps between songs, while lead singer Stephen Arkin’s voice is also just a pure unaltered pleasure in itself. They have the looks, attitude and ability to go far and it’ll be interesting to see if they also manage to steal a few fans when they join New Found Glory’s Pop Punk’s Not Dead tour later this year. If this support slot was anything to go by though, then I’m sure they won’t have a problem.
On the road: 02 Academy Newcastle (16 November), 02 ABC Glasgow (17 November), Nottingham Rock City (18 November), 02 Academy Liverpool (20 November), Manchester Academy (21 November), 02 Academy Leeds (22 November), Cardiff University Students Union (23 November), 02 Academy Bristol (25 November), Portsmouth Pyramids (26 November)
