Back in February, most of Cardiff (and everyone else who travelled for the show) got their hearts broken when A Day To Remember cancelled their show due to frontman Jeremy McKinnon’s ill health. Fast forward to August, and order is restored with their postponed show going ahead with a shiny new line up: Architects, Letlive. and Lonely The Brave taking the place of the previous tour’s supports (Mallory Knox, The Story So Far and Every Time I Die).
Sadly, we manage to miss the wonderful Lonely The Brave due to an exceedingly early slot, but we get there in time to catch all of Letlive.’s rowdy set. Despite Letlive. being undoubtedly one of the most exciting bands around at the moment, this is probably not their best show. They still seem to thrive on smaller stages with a more intimate vibe, and so this arena show doesn’t seem to showcase them at their finest. The sound is slightly dodgy, and they fail to really ignite the crowd, which is a huge shame as they are almost always a fantastic live band.
Next up are Architects who step things up about twenty notches by playing an utterly fantastic set. The crowd go crazy for them from the word go, and it’s no surprise when they’re this good. Since the release of ‘Lost Forever// Lost Together’ earlier this year, they seem to have gone from strength to strength, and it’s incredible to see a British band who have worked this hard get the recognition they deserve. They sound huge tonight, and the set’s highlight is the gigantic ‘Naysayer’ (one word: BLEH). If they keep on going this way, they might just be headlining arena shows themselves in a couple of years. Bravo.
No matter how good the support acts are, there’s no doubt who everyone is here to see tonight: A Day To Remember. Tonight they have filled an arena, and considering the fact that they were playing to an almost empty Cardiff Barfly six years ago, this is completely insane (and testament to how far they’ve come in a relatively short amount of time).
Although ADTR can sometimes be hit or miss when playing live, tonight is almost definitely the best time we have ever seen them. The sound is great, they are impeccable showmen, and the setlist is spectacular. They may not have brought their house party stage set from their Alexandra Palace show, but they bring the zorb ball and their best possible performance, so it’s fine.
Tonight they open with arguably their biggest banger, ‘The Downfall Of Us All’, and it sets the precedent for the rest of the night: utter chaos. From the opening ‘DUH DUH DUH DUH’ onwards, the energy in the room is insanely high, and it never seems to dwindle. The setlist features a lot of new songs off ‘Common Courtesy’, but they all go down just as well as the old favourites.
Although hard to pick (due to being amazing from start to finish), tonight’s highlight probably comes in the form of the three-song encore, which comes in the unlikely form of ‘If It Means A Lot To You’, ‘All Signs Point To Lauderdale’ and finally ‘The Plot To Bomb The Panhandle’. ‘If It Means A Lot To You’ triggers possibly the biggest singalong of the night, despite being a slow song, and the utterly massive ‘All Signs Point To Lauderdale’ brings everyone’s energy into full force. And finally, one of ADTR’s oldest bangers, ‘The Plot To Bomb The Panhandle’, triggers mass moshpits around the room. Finishing with chants of “I’ll make my stand, right here with my friends” is possibly the perfect way to end a flawless night. Unbelievable work.
LAIS MW