 The
reasonably intimate stage of Cardiff University
Solus soon to be home to Slam Dunk Wales, was
opened up by Super Prime, a three piece band that
sits on the quicker, heavier side of pop punk.
By the second song of their set "Don't Ask"
off their album "FML" they had the crowd
clapping along without even having to ask. With
guitarist Adam Newall taking lead vocals and bassist
Austin Bond throwing in his voice too there was
a definite air of Blink-182 in this set, which
was reinforced with a comment about nipples before
moving onto the next track. Marcus James was no
Travis Barker, but if that was the mark for a
good drummer there would only be a handful in
the world, the beats blended well into the rest
of the track making it hard to find fault anywhere.
This was my  first
experience with Super Prime and it was a good
one. Having listened to them since the sound was
pretty dead on. Playing though some of the other
tracks from "FML" such as "Just
Like You" and "Vow" before giving
the unfamiliar crowd a chance to sing along with
a cover of Fall Out Boy's "Sugar, We're Goin'
Down" that was executed better than You Me
At Six's version. Playing one last song before
exiting the stage, Super Prime had started the
night off well with their style much closer to
the 90's pop punk bands like "Greenday"
or "Jimmy Eat World" that many of the
bands themselves grew up listening too. A good
new band at only a year old, one to look out for.
 The
next band up was The Summer Set, with a much closer
sound to We Are The In Crowd it wasn't long before
they had the Cardiff crowd off their feet or jumping
into one another. Opening with "Punch-Drunk
Love" of their debut album "Love Like
This", followed quickly by "Young"
which saw the first moshpit of the night. They
then moved on to play tracks from their new album
"Everything's Fine" playing "Someone
Like You" and "Mannequin". Whilst
the vocal mix was slightly too low during the
first song it was corrected quickly and the general
sound was good all round. With Jess Bowen hammering
away at the drums, guitarists John Gomez and Josh
Montgomery as well as bassist Stephen  Gomez
bouncing around on stage there was enough to keep
the crowd entertained. I found it hard at times
to make out what words Brian Dales was singing,
and I think some people preferred the heavier
more old school Super Prime, but the entire set
seemed to go down well with the crowd. They continued
to play through a mix of their two albums with,
"Chealsea", "Girls Freak Me Out",
"Must Be The Music", "When We Were
Young" and "The Boys You Do (Get Back
At You)" to a welcoming crowd. With a few
jokes from Brian and a lot of jumping up and down
everyone on and off the stage seemed to be enjoying
their first ever performance in Cardiff.
 As
the time grew closer for We Are The In Crowd to
take to the stage the excitement in the venue
was building, with the crowd cheering every time
someone moved near the stage. Having managed to
catch Taylor Jardine for a quick interview before
the show she said she had messed up her voice
on the first show of the tour because of a fault
with her in ear monitors, but within the first
twenty seconds of "Rumor Mill" it was
clearly not going to hold her back at all. By
the second song, there was an immense amount of
energy both on and off the stage with Taylor and
guitarist Cameron Hurley jumping around the stage
and the crowd singing along with every word. This
was the best I've ever seen them play and it only
got better as the set went on, sounding slightly
heavier than their CD's but utterly flawless with
some cracking harmony's between Taylor and Jordan
Eckes. With bassist Mike Ferri joining in and
moving around more as they broke into "On
Your Own", the crowd were eating out of the
palm of their hand, with Taylor getting the room
clapping along with absolute ease. Next up was
"The Worst Thing About Me" followed
by "Kiss Me Again" which saw Brian from
The Summer Set return to fill the shoes of All
Time Low's Alex Gaskarth, with a slightly higher
pitch it didn't work quite as well as the recorded
version, but was welcomed by screams and cheers.
 We
Are The In Crowd looked incredibly relaxed and
like they were having a good time with everyone
jumping around the stage and some banter between
songs, with Taylor flexing her control over the
crowd once again during "For The Win"
getting everyone moving their hands from side
to side in the air with the song. After a couple
more songs, as the set was nearing the end, Jordan
and Taylor managed to encourage Rob Chianelli
into a quick and unexpected drum solo before turning
to the crowd, to spur them on by shouting "oggy
oggy oggy" with crowd reply of "oi oi
oi" three times before breaking into "Lights
Out". The band left the stage, but after
about a minute of near silence the cheering for
more began , with Mike returning to the stage
briefly to grab something and proclaiming that
"Tay and Jord are the only ones who do anything
cool". As the cheering continued the crowd
were finally rewarded with Taylor and Jordan taking
to the stage again to play an incredible version
of "You've Got It Made". With the rest
of the band joining for the last song of the night
"Both  Sides
Of The Story" for the first time ever live,
and it couldn't have gone down any better. If
it's at all possible to fault the performance
it would be on the light show, which was limited,
but what you would expect from a small venue such
as this. It's always nice to go to a gig and not
know who's enjoying it more the band or the fans,
and We Are The In Crowd get better and better
every time I see them. Cardiff Uni Solus is the
first venue the band ever played in the UK and
it symbolizes the start of their rapidly growing
UK career. Tonights show was an amazing demonstration
of why this band deserve our attention and our
airplay and i hope that their success will continue
to grow over the next year. The band have just
announced that they will be supporting Young Guns
on their summer tour, trading up the venue size
to include Cardiff Great Hall. Regardless of how
far you have to travel, if you are a fan of either
band, get yourself to that gig.
Super Prime 3/5
The Summer Set 3/5
We Are The In Crowd 5/5
Review By Marc Rich
Photos By Neil Oliver
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