A bustling evening
is on the horizon here tonight at the O2
Islington Academy as welsh-rock group The
Blackout are preparing to take to the stage for the second night in a row.
This set differs to the lads’ setlist last night, as tonight is a celebration
of the seminal 2009 album The Best In
Town. The band is set to play the
album in its entirety along with some other B-sides and fan favourites.
The doors open and
the venue is swamped with fans desperately trying to get to the front of the
stage and clasp onto the barrier for dear life. Then as the lights dim, the
first band take to the stage. With a name like Rat Attack, you might expect light rock riffs and sweet melodies in
their songs. However these sleeping giants attack the stage with a ferocious
stage presence that thoroughly gets the crowd motivated. Undertones of punk
rock mixed with a glitz and glam come together as the band open their set to A Bird In Hand. Judging by the looks on vocalist Mike Hodges’ face, it’s going to be a
fun night. Clad in a glittery top, Hodges
is a true icon of the party-punk sound they’re looking for. As the set comes to a close, guitarist Charlie Wesson and bassist Dan Wilson get the crowd moving with
their latest single Saturday Night
Feeling which Hodges describes as “Catchy as FUCK!” Even if you’re not
usually a fan of slick guitar riffs, you find it hard to not groove along to
the band’s charm. A great opening act that set the bar high for tonight. (7/10).
Not long after, LostAlone step on stage and take
formation in the dimmed light and they explode from the silence into their
latest single The Bells! The Bells! Vocalist/Guitarist Steven Battelle triumphantly takes place in the spotlight as the
band takes control of the crowd. With riffs and guitar solos galore, the crowd
is already left shaking by the end of the second song Do You Get What You Pray For?
Following a mishap in the set order due to
Battelle setting his setlist out completely in pictures, LostAlone take a moment away from the music to celebrate Lindt
chocolate – an odd but funny topic of choice nonetheless. The band appears to
be splitting the crowd in opinions, but the band is quick to combat opposition
well by claiming “You’re going to get absolutely torn to shreds, especially on
this next one!” It’s here that drummer Mark Gibson and bassist Alan Williamson show off their talents
on track Vesuvius, which packs a
face-melting intro, and chorus that you can’t help but chant along to. The Derby guys close their set on their hit
single Love Will Eat You Alive, the
band plays with huge grins on their faces. They leave the stage also leaving
fans with news of a tour in April. (8/10)
Anticipation
begins to rise in the venue as the banner for The Blackout is raised and the fans begin to shout out for the
music to begin. Then suddenly all members run out on stage, before sending the
crowd into overdrive as the band open up to ShutTheFuckUppercut. Based
from the reaction purely to the first song, we can tell that vocalist Sean Smith has clearly been
anticipating this show for a long time since vocalist Gavin Butler fell ill on their last tour. With their next track Save Ourselves (The Warning) the
audience comes alive singing in harmony to the chants in the choruses that
brings a huge smile to Smith and Butler’s face. Being only four songs
into their set, it is evident to see that The
Blackout are one of the few bands nowadays that seem able to perform just
as well, if not better live then on the record.
Smith’s screamed vocals are
spot on and Butler’s clean vocals
create a sense of euphoria amongst the crowd. 
Rattling off the
iconic tracks from the album including Children
of the Night and I Love Myself and I
Wanna Live, Smith recalls
memories from playing this venue in the past and the history it holds for the
band – “The last time we played this song
we supported a small female-fronted band, they can’t be that big, who are they?
Paramore.”
Finishing The Best in Town on We’re Going to Hell, So Bring the Sunblock the
band rushes off stage and coming back on for an encore of songs that will get
the crowd off of their feet. Smith
then decides to take the set back to The
Blackout’s first album for singles I’m
a Riot? You’re a Fucking Riot! and You
and Your Friend vs. Me and The Revolution
explaining: “This comes off
our first album when we used to be a post-hardcore band.”
Just by looking at
the amount of action taking place in mosh pits here tonight we can tell that
the audience is having a great time, and it only seems fitting for the follow
up track to be Start The Party with Smith asking for “Circle pits! Diamond
Pits! Octagon Pits! I don’t know what those last two are but I want them!” The
crowd is ignited into a frenzy of dancing and jumping all over again and the
band is having just as much fun as the fans tonight. Before the show ends The Blackout still have a few more aces
up their sleeves as they delve into We
Are the Dynamite with Prepare For a
Wound as well as going into their 2011 album Hope for The Storm which
is what ignites in the crowd as the guitar kicks in. Their penultimate song Radio is key in the audience taking the audience’s antics to new
levels in successfully getting members of the crowd to do handstands throughout
the song. 
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