The Camden Roundhouse plays host to the Madness tour, the final date of Sleeping With Sirens’ tour in support of the album of the same name. The queue snakes down the high street, and there are still people filing in when the first band take to the stage.
Beach Weather take any sense of rock & roll and dilute it into bubblegum pop music which makes 5 Seconds of Summer look like Megadeth. ‘Bad Seed’ meanders and bores throughout and only seems to excite the younger members of the audience, with many overage people heading towards the bars.
This Wild Life are a much more interesting proposition. Playing a 7 song set, the acoustic pop punk duo get a fantastic reaction from the crowd and captivate the audience. ‘No More Bad Days’ and ‘Puppy Love’ are just two fantastic tunes which really speak to the soul, whilst their ever-present cover of ‘Sleepwalking’ by Bring Me The Horizon incites a massive sing-along.
Returning favourites As It Is bound out of the gates and smash a ten song set out as if it’s nothing to them. Opening on ‘Concrete’ Patty Walters has really become a confident frontman, showing a knowledge of how to get a reaction from the crowd in front of him. Their set draws heavily from their debut album ‘Never Happy, Ever After’, as well as an old EP track, ‘Horoscopes’. Walters also leads the crowd through a couple of acoustic numbers, with just him and a guitar before a massive ‘Dial Tones’ finishes their set and shows how good they actually are.
Sleeping With Sirens have become a well oiled machine in a live setting. Crashing through a 15 song set with ease and aplomb. Opening with a double punch of ‘Don’t Say Anything’ and ‘Kick Me’ sets the tone for a set, which doesn’t let up. ‘We Like It Loud’ shows off the talents of each of the members as well as their showmanship. Lead singer, Kellin Quinn stalks the stage and leads the crowd, showing complete frontmanship. ‘Congratulations’ gets an airing with Patty from As It Is guesting over Matty Mullins’ parts and smashes his cameo.
SWS played two covers, the classic take on ‘Iris’ by Goo Goo Dolls as well as ‘Killing Me Softly’ by Roberta Flack/The Fugees/Lori Lieberman, which is an incredible twist. During songs like ‘Gold’, ‘The Strays’ and ‘Scene Five’, Quinn shows off his incredible vocal range able to croon acoustically whilst being able to scream with the best in the scene on ‘Parasites’.
Their encore consists of their two best songs, ‘Do It Now Remember It Later’ leading into a huge ‘If You Can’t Hang’. Sirens have become a dependable band in the live scene, always able to thrill and entertain and have now started to bring together a live set which shows off every one of their sides. They return to the UK for an acoustic show as well as Reading & Leeds at which they will once again play the Main Stage. You wouldn’t bet on them smashing it again just like they did tonight at the Roundhouse.
