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| Surrounded by the boys from Natives after their show |
I absolutely love it when you go to a concert to see one
particular band but have a fantastic time because the other bands are surprisingly
good too. Although it seemed three quarters of the very long queue leading up
to the venue in buzzing Camden were there to see headliners 'Mayday Parade', my
friend and I were there to see previous Artist of The Week, 'The Summer Set'.
The venue was a good size, slightly bigger than the o2 Academy where I went a
couple of weeks ago but small enough to still evoke the intimate feel. I'm not
sure exactly how, but somehow I managed to end up very near to the stage with a
brilliant view. The first band 'Natives' took to the stage and the crowd began
rocking out to songs such as 'This Island' which was my favourite and I have
since downloaded. If you like You Me at
Six, I am pretty sure you would like this band/song. The chorus is catchy and
the drum beat is addictive. The lead singer really knew how to get the crowd
pumped up, such as telling everybody to get down low on the floor then jump up
when the chorus started which was very fun and a spectacle to see. Even though
this is not strictly music related, I also wanted to comment on how cool their
merchandise was as I happened to notice the well-designed shirts when I was chatting
to the band after the gig.
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| Lead singer of For the Foxes, my friend Tamara and I |
The following band, ‘For the Foxes’, is signed to
'Hopeless Records' which is the same label that is home to 'All Time Low' and
'We Are the in Crowd'. This American band's music was a bit more summer indie
pop/rock than Natives but vocalist Nick has a very rock sounding voice. The
highlight of their set for me was when the band slowed it down and sang 'The
River' with just Nick playing the keyboard to accompany. 'The River' is about a
long distance relationship which Nick said is a very personal subject for the
whole band as they are often away touring, and this was clear as the emotion
came out as he sang.
Natives and For The Foxes were both talented, energetic
bands that I really enjoyed and would love to see again, but by far my
favourite band of the night were the ones I had been waiting a long time to
see, 'The Summer Set'. Bursting onto the stage and instantly grabbing the
audience with their well-known song 'Chelsea', I completely gave myself away to
the music and I did not pause for thought as I sang along. They performed all
of my favourites: 'Must Be The Music', 'Punch Drunk Love' and 'When We Were
Young', along with a new song 'F*** You Over' which will be featured on their
next album out next year. Brian's vocals sounded just as good as the studio
recordings and Josh, John, Stephen and Jess did not miss a beat. It was then
that all of those there to see The Summer Set joined together as Brian told the
crowd to sing parts of songs back to him, the atmosphere was incredible as
everybody used all of their lung power to fill the room. The set seemed to
finish far too soon and I really hope I get to see a headlining show from The
Summer Set sometime soon.
The crowd went crazy when 'Mayday Parade' came on
stage, and although there is no denying they put on a good show, their music
was not really my kind of thing. They have a very dedicated following and,
again, the atmosphere was so good but I just did not connect with them as I did
the previous three bands. However, when they took to the keyboard as well to
sing 'Miserable At Best', I did really love it therefore I am not saying I did
not like any of their songs, because I thought this one was beautiful.
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| Brian Dales of The Summer Set entertaining the crowd at the Electric Ballroom |
Overall,
the sweaty, hot, exhausting night was brilliant and I enjoyed every minute of
it. The crowd was so tightly packed and I felt squashed at all times but that
was part of the fun of being near the front. I had to rush off quite quickly
after the show to make sure I did not miss the last train, and so did not
manage to meet The Summer Set but I did say hello to the guys from For The
Foxes and Natives who were all really friendly. I would definitely recommend
you check out all of the bands I saw at the Electric Ballroom on a cold night
in October, and let me know what you think!
