Anyone arriving slightly late to this jam packed academy is serenaded by the sound of a relaxed cover of ‘The Black Parade’ courtesy of HalfLives. The sold out second room sets the room aglow with the lights from their phones and we all know we’re in for a hell of a night. This is a female lead night with talented artists from Australia & the US of A who are obviously here to give it their all. As the lights change, the men of Against The Current enter the stage and start to cause a scene, with Chrissy Costanza making the entrance we’ve all be waiting for.
The energy immediately radiates from the stage and is reflected by the audience as Chrissy is clearly very passionate about every second she has on stage; her voice alone is enough to get the crowd going but the other members of the band compliment her so well. It’s hard not to get involved. The fifth song of the night, ‘Wildfire’ is where this bunch of gig-goers really come into their own and they only get louder from here. The never ending spirit of this 5 piece can be felt at even the back of the room and you can feel that that is what’s keeping everyone going.
The breaks between songs are filled with banter coming from both the audience and Against The Current.
“You’re in Birmingham now!” is met with woops, cheers and laughter though a request from the band for “crowd surfing for Dan” isn’t met. It’s truly refreshing to experience a band seem so comfortable having a laugh with their fans; we’re not taken for granted and we’re all here for a good time. Next up for the night is a cover of Taking Back Sunday’s ‘MakeDamnSure’ and it’s a good one at that! It fits Chrissy’s voice down to a T and you can tell that the whole band are into this cover. As the night slows down for a few moments, you’re hit with the volume of the crowd and it is something to behold – this is one of the loudest audience’s I’ve ever experienced and I don’t want it to stop.
‘Shatter’ keeps it slow before we’re treated to ‘Lullaby’; one Chrissy’s personal favourites and it shows as the night it back into full swing. The night carries on at this peak…then comes the encore. These final 3 songs are clearly what these fans left the house for on the snowy Friday night. ‘Paralyzed’, ‘Legends Never Die’ & ‘weapon’ set this already hot room on fire. ‘Legends Never Die’ in undoubtedly the loudest song of this 18 song strong setlist though ‘weapon’ isn’t far behind. As the night draws to a close, one thing is clear; ATC are a force to be reckoned with.
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