It’s snowing like a bitch outside – a good time to rush all the eagerly waiting fans inside to the warm, right? Apparently not quite yet. Somehow, the presence of snow has made the security work slower than usual at the Forum tonight meaning the room is rather empty as the lights dim down and the night gets underway.
First up, are the bouncy WE ARE THE IN CROWD. Girl fronted pop-punk bands are still inevitably going to be compared one band, but WATIC are making a name for themselves based on their music, which is great to see. In Tay Jardine, they have a small ball of energy with a powerful voice – which reaches all corners of this rather empty venue – and the vocal interplay between her and Jordan Eckes is a perfect pairing. With brain bugging songs like ‘Rumor Mill’ and ‘Kiss Me Again’ managing to get the swelling crowd to sing along and fill the room – hopefully they’ll be back here very soon playing a lot later in the evening.
THE MAINE are a bit hit or miss on record, but that’s a fault that does not come across in their live show tonight – consider us converted. This shows how good the band can be when they’re on form. And The Maine do sound good tonight.
The pitch of the screams that greet ALL TIME LOW as they make their way on to the stage highlights the age and demographic they attract, and somewhat luckily, these shrieks are drowned out as ATL kick straight into the powerful ‘Time Bomb’ and break into a pop punk frenzy. We were there last night to watch them take on the much larger Hammersmith Apollo, and tonight sounds just as great.
ATL may seem to appeal to the younger generation, but you can’t really deny that they’ve got something for everyone live – songs that make you bounce on the spot without even realising you’re doing so and stick in your head, and a light show which could’ve triggered off epileptic fits a few miles away. Despite being lifted straight out of the BLINK-182 book, the uncountable amount of dick and boob gags and childish illimunations in lights do fit well with the ethos (and audience), so the atmosphere is great. Their setlist is admirably varied – playing a good selection from all of their releases, keeping new and old fans pleased alike – even throwing in a short but sweet rendition of Adele’s ‘Someone Like You’.
As ‘Dear Maria, Count Me In’ brings things to a close, the spectacular lights go off and the fans flock out into the arctic conditions – ALL TIME LOW can fly back to America with memories of many more smiling faces.
RYAN COOPER
More photos: http://staging.punktastic.com/gallery/306/All-Time-Low-@-The-HMV-Forum/