Tonight, London is being treated to one of the most eclectic line ups that it will enjoy this summer in the main room of O2’s Islington Academy.
Early on tonight are a band that haven’t played a London venue for quite some time, and tonight they get the rough end of the stick a little with a fairly sparse crowd at early doors. Apologies, I Have None won’t be all that bothered though, they have a great time playing to a crowd that does increase and the break seems to have given them an extra gear to go up live. It makes you realise how great their debut album ‘London’ really was, serving as a fantastic opener for tonight’s proceedings.
After this, and right at the other end of the punk spectrum, is a highly charged performance from Bane. The band comment on how strange it was that H2O are currently doing their thing just down the road at The Underworld and in actual fact they probably have a point. Regardless, they smash through an impressive, if at times a little repetitive set, and get those in the venue suitably pumped for boysetsfire.
By the time tonight’s headliners take the stage, the O2 Academy is looking much fuller, and though it’s a shame that some people had waited until that late to come down tonight, the perhaps overly varied nature of the line up might just have taken its toll. With their first new album in 6 years under their belt, boysetsfire have been getting better and better since their reformation, and tonight really is no different. They roar through tracks new and old, and it’s arguably the best they’ve been since they’ve been back. In actuality, it’s probably the new songs that sound best tonight, but the new lease of life they seem to have live is a million miles away from the band that looked less than bothered before they went their separate ways. It’s masterclass tonight, and though justice should dictate they’re filling venues twice the size, the atmosphere is great. A bit of a heavy Sunday, but one rather worth the Monday headache.
TOM AYLOTT