It’s a Thursday night in Sheffield, and the aptly named When We Were Wolves are getting things off to an explosive start on the Blackout’s Wolves tour. Hailing from Wales, the same as tonight’s headliners, these openers are metalcore through and through, and they put the crowd through the wringer complete with an excess of head banging before the night has even properly begun.
Next up are Yashin, who are definitely much heavier live than they are on record. One song in (D.E.A.D, which includes an overwhelmingly catchy chorus) and the reaction from the crowd proves that fans consider Yashin a worthy replacement for Chiodos, who pulled out of their main support slot on the tour a couple of months ago. Energy radiates from this band in endless supplies, with frontman Harry Radford heading out into the crowd, commanding everyone to get down on their knees. Fans are absolutely annihilating the floor tonight; insistent on mosh-pits despite the fact the numbers are not on the strong side, tracks in the form of New Year New York and Renegades are providing the perfect soundtrack for such antics. New song Dorothy Gale, described by vocalist Kevin Miles himself as ‘the heaviest thing Yashin have ever penned’, is a highlight of this 40 minute set, and promises huge things for Yashin’s 2015.
With that, the Blackout are here, opening with the title track from their new EP Wolves, and showing everyone the right way to execute a live show. Wolves seamlessly flows into older hit I’m A Riot, You’re A Fucking Riot! with limbs of fans and singers alike flailing every-which way. It’s carnage with microphones being flung, a member of the crowd jumping on the stage, front man Sean Smith in the crowd, and not once does this show feel like anything less than a band giving it their all. Sean and Gavin are joined on vocals during another new track Liars by When We Were Wolves frontman Mitchell Bock- which, during screams of ‘we’re sick, we’re sick, we’re sick of all this shit!’- paired with an irresistibly heavy breakdown makes for an absolutely impervious wall of sound. Maintaining the energy despite a drop in pace are songs like Hope, which spurs a huge crowd sing-along, causing the band to look thrilled with the reaction to their older songs, and not just the new material. Prepare For A Wound unleashes hell on the audience, while live favourites such as Start The Party and Higher And Higher are welcomed like old friends. As they hurtle through final tracks, Shut The Fuck Uppercut and Save Ourselves (The Warning), one thing starts to become very clear about the Blackout. They’ve faced all manner of predicaments that would, and have ended a number of other bands. However, no matter what goes wrong for the Blackout, they will always emerge more determined than ever, and never fail to provide anything less than an exceptional live show.
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