There’s a slight delay to the evening as the queue is still making it’s way in but it’s all worth the wait as Taking Back Sunday take the stage; these guys certainly know how to start a co-headline show with a bang. Hands hit the air from the get go and rarely fall back down as the night goes on. Adam Lazarra shows that he knows how to get the audience eating out the palm of his hands as everyone goes crazy for the full set list; they didn’t come to disappoint. ‘Set Phasers to Stun’ seems to be a real crowd please and anyone who wasn’t into this show yet, definitely is now. This jam packed venue reacts to Adam’s energy, showmanship and talent with pure delight and as you look over the sea of people, it’s hard to find anyone who isn’t having a good time.
‘I am throughly enjoying myself ladies and gentlemen’ said in his southern American twang is hard not to feel charmed by. The energy on stage is radiating pure rock and it’s incredible to watch Adam’s golden locks being whipped back and forth. ‘Cute Without the ‘E” is undoubtedly the loudest song on this crazy Saturday night in Birmingham – that is until ‘MakeDamnSure’. Three isn’t a person in the room who isn’t singing along with their whole chest and it makes for a glorious sound and atmosphere. Alkaline Trio have given themselves a hard act to follow.
Alkaline Trio quickly show that they are a force to be reckoned with by going big from the moment they step on stage. No one is standing still, in fact, the movement of the crowd forces people to jump and get involved even if they don’t want to. Whilst the crowd are unquestionably warmed up, it takes until the 5th song of the night (‘I Wanna Be a Warhol’) to get everyone screaming along. There is a beautiful moment during ‘Nose Over Tail’ where Matt Skiba & co. drop the music completely for just a second to hear the whole venue singing back them. There isn’t a person in the room who doesn’t have a smile on their face and as the night goes on, the cheers get louder. It’s quite late into the show when ‘Sadie’ gives us our first surfer crowder of the night; as people are leaving the pit you can tell that they can’t wait to get straight back into the action. This audience have clearly been waiting a while for this night and they’re going to make the most of their opportunity to see this talented bunch.
It’s unfortunate that there is a slight issue with sound throughout the night. Starting with Destroy Boys, the distorted sound isn’t really fixed in between acts making it difficult to tell what is being said between songs, not that this rowdy crowd care much.
Ending on ‘Radio’ & ‘Time to Waste’ was the perfect end to this riot. I never thought I’d hear ‘shaking like a dog shitting razor blades’ screamed so loudly and yet, I’m not mad at it either. ‘Time to Waste’ is easily the loudest song of all three set lists though ‘Radio’ is hot on its heels. AT leave the stage with the atmosphere of the room on absolute fire and no one wanting to wait another 10 years to see them again.
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