I’d heard of Asking Alexandria, the band
had been mentioned to me a few times in the month
or so leading up to this gig. While not a huge
hardcore/screamo fan I will give it a listen.
The problem is that the genre has been watered
down considerably in recent times and we’ve
been inundated with sub-par clone bands who have
started to sound very similar to one another to
a point that it’s hard to tell them apart.
I suppose that’s what happens when a particular
type of music gets popular. That said, the bands
that stand out, really stand out. For me, Asking
Alexandria are one of those bands.
I arrived at the gig about 20 minutes before
door time and there was already a queue of over
100 kids, which is quite considerable for an early
turnout in this area. I brought my daughter along
so she wasn’t out of place with everyone
being around the same age as her. About 10 minutes
later there was another 80 kids behind us. I’m
not sure how they heard of the band but I supposed
the kids are pretty tuned into whatever scene
they are into, and Asking Alexandria had been
getting some airplay on Kerrang TV so if they
have a music video they’re famous, right?
Anyway, door time came and went as it usually
does. The general consensus is door times are
only a guide anyway. I don’t think I’ve
ever been admitted to a gig on time. I’d
been standing there in a queue of, by now, over
200 kids in their mid teens and was actually starting
to feel decidedly uncomfortable. Imagine a guy
in his thirties standing in a group of mostly
teenage girls with a camera – not the best
scenario ever.
The queue finally started moving 40 minutes after
the official doortime, a full hour after I started
queuing. It was inevitable that by the time I
finally got into the venue and sorted out the
standard mixup with my pass, I’d missed
most of the first band’s set which I did.
I caught their last song and they mentioned that
they’re called Death of a Salesman. I didn’t
hear enough to make any sort of a judgement. I
don’t understand why venues admit fans late
but still put the first band on at the advertised
time – most of the paying punters are still
queuing! Sort it out guys!
Since the first band went onstage on time, I
expected the same of Asking Alexandria. It wasn’t
to be though. The band didn’t hit the stage
until 10.20pm, a full 20 minutes after the very
latest they should have gone on. There was A LOT
of messing about on the line checks, to me most
of it was just nit picking and I saw the venue
staff were even starting to get agitated and a
few heated words were exchanged. The curfew time
of the night was 11pm so we were only going to
get a maximum of 40 mins from the headliners.
That, under normal circumstances wasn’t
too bad but coupled with the fact that most people
missed the support too, the fans got a bit of
a raw deal.
All was forgotten and forgiven when Asking Alexandria
finally hit the stage. Hit the stage doesn’t
quite do it justice, the band EXPLODED onto the
stage in a frenzy of energy and testosterone and
the crowd went absolutely crazy! The pure energy
on stage was electrifying with the band bouncing
and headbanging themselves into a sweaty mess.
They strutted their stuff with an air of confidence
which also exuded the typical rockstar cockyness,
but not to the extreme of arrogance. They exuded
an aura of a band who are good and by god they
know it.
The crowd ate up every second of their set by
moshing and headbanging their little hearts out
with lead vocalist Danny Worsnop periodically
whipping them into even more of a frenzy between
songs. I wasn’t stupid enough to venture
into the middle of the crowd, I don’t have
a death wish! They were only kids but they were
scarey kids!!
I enjoyed how the band was able to command the
stage and the pure energy they showed which had
them sweating buckets from the start. They gave
their all for the crowd, and the crowd in turn
appreciated them for it. Like I said earlier,
the band have a video or 2 out but to be honest
that doesn’t mean shit. I don’t care
about who you’re signed to or how good a
production your video is with your studio vocals
overlayed on it. If you can play live and make
the crowd react like Asking Alexandria did that
night, you have talent.
5/5
Review By Craig Young
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