Here it is again, with yet another impressive line-up. the Eastpak Antidote Tour 2011 has arrived in London. Despite missing LIVING WITH LIONS far too much of THE GHOST INSIDE’s set, what we do catch from them quickly wipes those sad faces of ours and signals a much needed trip to the bar!
We were a little bit wary of AUGUST BURNS RED and how they’d fare live, but with heavy as fuck breakdowns, riffs as big as Bill Gates’ wallet and more technical parts than the inside of a macbook, they go down a storm. An extra special moment is when a request for “a lot” of crowd surfers is met by roughly 59 willing participants during a single song!
So with everyone in the spirit, A DAY TO REMEMBER make their presence well and truly known as the curtain drops and confetti cannons blast onto life. The theatrics that follow would usually be the main focal point of the night, but ADTR deliver their songs with such intensity and power that the music always takes the limelight. ‘The Danger Of Starting A Fire’ and ‘All I Want’ are just two of a setlist consisting many gems, capable of whipping up deafening sing-alongs whilst at the same time instigating the crowd into beating the living shit out of each other.
Smoke jets and confetti cannons are standard tricks used by bands to enhance their stage show… a giant Yoda throwing rolls of toilet paper into the crowd however, is not, neither is a green dinosaur-type thing firing free t-shirts into the audience with a cannon or frontman Jeremy McKinnon inside a massive plastic ball running over the crowd! Oh, and that doesn’t include the balloon shower. Closing on a soothing acoustic ‘If It Means A Lot To You’ and then the beastly ‘The Downfall Of Us All’ and one final shot of confetti – this is pop-punk with stadium rock theatrics! This is how to spend a friday night and this has been one hell of a night to remember!
RYAN COOPER
For more photos from the night, head to our galleries section.