Written by Alison Aird
Tuesday, December 8th, 2009
We Are The Ocean with support from All Forgotten, The Amity Affliction and Flood of Red; Brighton Concorde 2, 30th November 2009
Its a damp, windy, possibly sub zero Monday night and the angry cowboy of Concorde 2 is shouting at everyone again. This isn’t the ideal start to my night at We Are The Ocean’s headline show, and as the audience begins to filter in this mood seems to be common place in the crowd.
All Forgotten take to the stage first tonight to the weather worn audience. Their set manages to get a few of the kids up front excited, and the audience show signs of appreciation by moving forward when asked to, but otherwise the effort is wasted. The band put on a good show, but lack that something that makes them memorable. Perhaps it’s the audience’s disinterest, but these guys just don’t grab me.
Next up is Australia’s The Amity Affliction. If you’ve read my review of their album “Severed Ties” then you’ll know I love their sound and expect them to be the next big thing. Their set tonight doesn’t disappoint and they convince some of the largely underage audience to move their feet. Their performance is tight and it’s obviously this band are frequenters of the live circuit back home, but the jet lag and English weather is obviously getting them down. As a fan of theirs, I wish their set had been longer and hopefully they can return next year on a tour further up the bill so they can turn an audience in their favour and get into their stride.
Scotland’s Flood Of Red take to the stage and turn out to be an electronic dance band with a slightly samey, but interesting sound. Occasionally their songs will strike me as something great, but they never seem to come to a conclusion. At some points I get vibes of Taking Back Sunday but other than the keyboard player drinking bottles of wine and the great vocal abilities of their singer, I’m once again not really taken by this band. I would like to see them again though, perhaps to a home town crowd or on a headline show, where I reckon they could grab my attention more successfully.
We Are The Ocean have caused quite a buzz in this last year and this excitement filters into the Concorde 2 as they start up. They manage to mix their old songs with the new from their eagerly anticipated debut album “Cutting Our Teeth” (out in January next year) and keep old and new fans alike pleased. With some songs being performed by screamer Dan Brown from inside the pit, and vocalist Liam Cromby showing off some exquisite abilities even I manage to sing along to some of tracks I’ve never heard before and find myself eagerly anticipating what’s coming next, despite not being that familiar with them. The entire band’s participation and interaction with the audience keeps everyone alive and kicking for the entirety of their set and it’s evident they’ve perfected riling up an audience in their previous tours. These guys will hopefully return to a bigger crowd, in better weather once their album is released and they begin to gain the credit they deserve.
