The Xcerts
Dinosaur Pile-Up
Kids In Glass Houses
Brand New
Hit the Deck, the UKs indoor alternative music festival kicked off its first day in Bristol on Saturday. The heavily pop-punk line up ranged across five of the city's music venues; O2 academy 1 and 2, The Exchange, Thekla and The Fleece. I organised my day to mostly stay at the O2 with occasional visits to Thekla to see The Maine and Kids In Glass Houses.
The Action Plan opened the day with their standard pop-punk songs setting the vibe for the majority of the day. They're a new band and this is apparent within their live playing. They were generic, nothing special and the sound did not do them justice.
Upstairs in the O2 Academy 2 were The St. Pierre Snake Invasion. The band, especially the singer were aware of the strangely rectangular venue layout, shown through his eagerness to play off the stage and perform on the same level as the crowd. It was entertaining but their seriousness as artists is difficult to distinguish, especially with track names like If the Only Way is Essex, Kill Me Now.
Following this were Scottish Band, The Xcerts. For them, playing Hit the Deck was only confirmation that they are considerably underrated. The crowd size was decent for the time that they were on but it was not quite half full. This should not have been the case considering their impeccable and faultless playing.
The crowd further thinned for Dinosaur Pile-Up. Their extremely wannabe-Nirvana vibe seemed to go down well with even miniature circle pits forming. Personally, I saw no attraction to the hype other than the cool lighting fixed into the background.
Back upstairs were Verses who also played Hit the Deck in 2012. Within those past two years, it has to be said that the band have really upped their game. They appeared more energetic, determined and generally 'tighter' as a band.
It had only been approximately a week since I last saw The Maine and sadly, this time, their set was disappointing. Their set seemed short, the stage talk was unamusing and singer John O'Callaghan's ability to sing seems to have deteriorated over time. Gotta admit, I miss the Maine I used to love in 08/09.
Next up and who I anticipated most were the favourites, Kids In Glass Houses. What really hit me hard were the saddening words of "this is the last time we will play Bristol". Nonetheless, the band were nothing less than fantastic. The hits were played and no effort was needed to make the room go crazy, it was a given for the fans - a truly moving sendoff by Bristol as their first and last ever show at the Thekla.
Back at the o2 Academy were Merthyr Tydfil's finest, The Blackout. The room was filled to the brim. Singer, Sean Smith resorted to running to the back of the room to perform as well as clambering across the drinks bar so that their energy and enthusiasm was witnessed by everybody. Though, this was probably not needed as it translated perfectly through the speakers.
As predicted, the room for Brand New filled up rapidly. So rapidly that I was unable to see a thing no matter where I stood. Whilst tip-toeing I caught a few songs but my anticipation quickly turned into disappointment. The band weirdly opened with a cover of Nine Inch Nails with 95% of the crowd not knowing the song. The only song I recognised was The Shower Scene before they played Sic Transit Gloria...Glory Fades which appeared to be the one that people stuck around for and knew the words to. Disappointingly, Brand New did not meet my expectations.
Next up and who I anticipated most were the favourites, Kids In Glass Houses. What really hit me hard were the saddening words of "this is the last time we will play Bristol". Nonetheless, the band were nothing less than fantastic. The hits were played and no effort was needed to make the room go crazy, it was a given for the fans - a truly moving sendoff by Bristol as their first and last ever show at the Thekla.
Back at the o2 Academy were Merthyr Tydfil's finest, The Blackout. The room was filled to the brim. Singer, Sean Smith resorted to running to the back of the room to perform as well as clambering across the drinks bar so that their energy and enthusiasm was witnessed by everybody. Though, this was probably not needed as it translated perfectly through the speakers.
As predicted, the room for Brand New filled up rapidly. So rapidly that I was unable to see a thing no matter where I stood. Whilst tip-toeing I caught a few songs but my anticipation quickly turned into disappointment. The band weirdly opened with a cover of Nine Inch Nails with 95% of the crowd not knowing the song. The only song I recognised was The Shower Scene before they played Sic Transit Gloria...Glory Fades which appeared to be the one that people stuck around for and knew the words to. Disappointingly, Brand New did not meet my expectations.
Did you go to Hit the Deck this year? Who did you enjoy seeing?
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