You Me At Six

It was all smiles at this year's Slam Dunk festival and, despite the rain, the Desperados and beer was flowing and the crowds were bouncing non-stop to 2015's incredible line-up. 

As more and more bands were announced over the last few months, the anticipation was high and almost every band pulled it off with finesse, proving just why Slam Dunk is one of the country's best rock festivals. 

Opening on the main stage was Set It Off. Despite all the drama that's surrounded the band over the past week with bassist Austin Kerr, the band didn't let it show when they jumped on stage and gave the performance of their life. Opening their set with 'Forever Stuck In Our Youth' and performing their other hits 'Why Worry', 'Ancient History' and more, they certainly kicked things off with a bang.

Continue reading: Slam Dunk - The Forum, Hertfordshire - May 24th 2015 Live Review

This super band mash-up tour was one of the highlights of 2015 so far. After being announced in August following their performances at Reading Festival last year, the two bands, along with support act Walk The Moon, almost tore the O2 Arena apart on Valentine's Day.

Opening the tour was Baltimore band Walk The Moon. Walking out on stage to 'Circle Of Life' from Disney's 'The Lion King', the crowd began clapping instantly. The multi-talented lead singer spent the set not only singing, but also playing synth and percussion alongside the band's drummer. During the song 'Jenny', Walk The Moon had the whole crowd jumping and repeating the line, 'I'm not gonna take it from you, I'll let you give it to me'. The band seemed to have quite a big following, with a lot of the crowd singing the words and even those who didn't know who they were still enjoyed the performance and were up dancing and jumping. Their newer song 'Shut Up And Dance' was the most popular by far and, as expected, the whole crowd shut up and danced. After covering the Killers' 'All These Things That I Have Done', Walk The Moon closed with 'Anna Sun' - one of their most popular hits.

A motion picture introduced All Time Low and soon after they stormed on stage and started the set with 'Love Like War'. The whole stadium was on their feet, and when the band started 'Lost in Stereo', the crowd went crazy. Just four songs into the set, a woman had taken her top off, lead guitarist Jack Barakat had at least three bras dangling off of his mic stand and exclaimed that he had had 'sexual interactions with at least 30% of the crowd'. However, it seemed as though they were not aware of how young some of the children in the crowd were as their excessive sexual references, innuendos and statements started to cloud their performance. Nevertheless, the band had the whole crowd singing along. 'Weightless' was the highlight song of the night for them along with 'Therapy' which had the stadium lit up with people's phones. The band quickly noticed if the crowd started to get too rowdy and acted instantly when there was a casualty, ensuring the stewards helped get the young girl who was injured to safety. Having signed their first record deal in 2004 on Valentine's Day, the band welcomed a group of their fans in the crowd on stage with them during 'Timebomb' to show us all just how grateful they were for everyone's support over the years. 'Barakat' had the most energy of the whole set and although they all seemed to burn out a little towards the end, in their final song, well known hit 'Dear Maria (Count Me In)', they came storming back to life with full energy.

Continue reading: All Time Low - Plus You Me At Six Headline Tour - O2 Arena, London - February 14th 2015 Live Review

Ah, You Me At Six, we meet again. Not since their cute little debut album 'Take Off Your Colours' had I happened across the Surrey quintet and, trawling through their attempts in between their 2009 debut and their latest, early 2014 release 'Cavalier Youth' ensures that not much has been missed. 

Essentially, 'Cavalier Youth' picks up where this pop rock group left off with 2011 release 'Sinners Never Sleep', packing the album with a selection of catchy tunes which is sure to drag you from your seats whilst screaming uncontrollably at the sheer awesomeness that has spiralled into your earlobes... If you are a female aged sixteen or below with absolutely no taste in music whatsoever, that is. 

But, hey, they have a target audience and they have certainly captured their chosen demographic, and it's not entirely difficult to see why. Album opener 'Too Young to Feel This Old' combines poppy sounding vocals and the typically inventive lyrics of "Whoaaah, oooooh, aaaaaaah" just before the proclamations of "We're too young to feel this old" with their not-so-heavy guitar riffs, whilst tackling the issue of relationships between boys and girls. What's not to love, right? 

Continue reading: You Me At Six - Cavalier Youth Album Review

Surrey quintet You Me At Six release their third album in four years and the follow up to last year's 'Hold Me Down'.  An extensive tour of North America is currently taking place, with the band set to hit the UK gig circuit in March with support from Kids In Glass Houses.

The ever-improving chart positions of YMAS' albums are evidence that the group continue to grow their fanbase, but equally telling are the rankings that their singles have achieved.  Only once have they cracked the Top 40 and this is because their tunes are not ones of instant gratification that make good hit singles - a style that is continued here.  Brooding verses regularly lurch into huge choruses - take your pick from 'Little Death', 'Bite My Tongue' and 'Loverboy' - but the lack of hooks makes an obvious case for the lack of commercial breakthrough. 

Continue reading: You Me At Six - Album Review