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Yellowcard - London Astoria - Thurs 2nd March
This being my first gig of the year, I was rather looking forward to it. Yellowcard are also a band that I've wanted to see live for quite a long time, so needless to say I was bouncing off the walls with excitement on my way into town.
Upon arriving at the venue, the stench of sweat was apparent. Although as PoF aptly put it, 'Smells like teen spirit'. Teen being the operative word. Once inside the main room to see the stage being setup for the main act (I missed the support seeing as I was in the pub) all I could see around me were almost pre-pubescent people cluttering the room. I'm not joking. The average age must have been something like 15 or 16. Yep, I felt old what with being 25.
Putting all that aside, the lights dimmed and Yellowcard took the stage. Kicking off with their title track from they 2nd and new album Lights and Sounds. Unfortunately lead vocalist and backing guitarist Ryan Key was having massive troubles with his mic stand thanks to some shoddy workmanship of the Astoria staff. Literally, the thing was ready to collapse in front of him. It was clear to see he wasn't impressed either. So a temporary fix of duct tape and the eventual replacement of said mic stand smoothed things allowing him to fully get into the swing of things.
The vocals of Key sounded to have cleared up seeing as it was only a matter of weeks ago when gigs had to be either postponed or cancelled due to having nodes on his vocal chords. He always had Violinist and backing vocalist Ryan Mackin by his side if things went pear shaped though. It should be noted that the vocals of Mackin sometimes outdid that of Key.
New guitarist Ryan Mendez also appears to be settling into the band really well. A few tracks from the new album include some ear bleedingly good solos and these were showcased in one for or another. Good to see other band members giving him the encouragement a newbie would always need though.
Anyway, the tracks, the highlights for me were the favourites. Any fan of them could sing along to any given lyric. The old favourites like Way Away and new ones like Holly Wood Died, each with their own little showcase. Props must also go to drummer Longineu Parsons III who did a 5 minute drum solo at a pace only Linford Christie would be proud of.
The night ended perfectly when Key got the crowd together to sing their most well known track Ocean Avenue. Literally, I've neevr heard such a rapturous applause coming out of nowhere from a group of people so much younger than me. I can hear the crowd roaring the lyrics now...
If I could find you now things would get better
We could leave this town and run forever
Let your waves crash down on me and take me away
All in a great gig, and would happily see them again. The news got even better when the band let slip that they will hopefully be playing at this summers Reading and Leeds festivals!
(Edited by Ethan 04/03/2006 15:37)
Upon arriving at the venue, the stench of sweat was apparent. Although as PoF aptly put it, 'Smells like teen spirit'. Teen being the operative word. Once inside the main room to see the stage being setup for the main act (I missed the support seeing as I was in the pub) all I could see around me were almost pre-pubescent people cluttering the room. I'm not joking. The average age must have been something like 15 or 16. Yep, I felt old what with being 25.
Putting all that aside, the lights dimmed and Yellowcard took the stage. Kicking off with their title track from they 2nd and new album Lights and Sounds. Unfortunately lead vocalist and backing guitarist Ryan Key was having massive troubles with his mic stand thanks to some shoddy workmanship of the Astoria staff. Literally, the thing was ready to collapse in front of him. It was clear to see he wasn't impressed either. So a temporary fix of duct tape and the eventual replacement of said mic stand smoothed things allowing him to fully get into the swing of things.
The vocals of Key sounded to have cleared up seeing as it was only a matter of weeks ago when gigs had to be either postponed or cancelled due to having nodes on his vocal chords. He always had Violinist and backing vocalist Ryan Mackin by his side if things went pear shaped though. It should be noted that the vocals of Mackin sometimes outdid that of Key.
New guitarist Ryan Mendez also appears to be settling into the band really well. A few tracks from the new album include some ear bleedingly good solos and these were showcased in one for or another. Good to see other band members giving him the encouragement a newbie would always need though.
Anyway, the tracks, the highlights for me were the favourites. Any fan of them could sing along to any given lyric. The old favourites like Way Away and new ones like Holly Wood Died, each with their own little showcase. Props must also go to drummer Longineu Parsons III who did a 5 minute drum solo at a pace only Linford Christie would be proud of.
The night ended perfectly when Key got the crowd together to sing their most well known track Ocean Avenue. Literally, I've neevr heard such a rapturous applause coming out of nowhere from a group of people so much younger than me. I can hear the crowd roaring the lyrics now...
If I could find you now things would get better
We could leave this town and run forever
Let your waves crash down on me and take me away
All in a great gig, and would happily see them again. The news got even better when the band let slip that they will hopefully be playing at this summers Reading and Leeds festivals!
(Edited by Ethan 04/03/2006 15:37)
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