Words by Brendan Monteiro / Photos of TC and YG by Marcus Maschwitz

The house lights don’t even dim for This City’s stage entrance and sadly the crowd barely make a sound, it’s a clear indication that a exstensive quantity of tonight’s crowd are here for the headliners. This little downer does not affect This City in the least as they start off with a high in the form of the infectious We Move. Chris Purr launches every molecule of himself into the song and it’s this passion that starts turning the spectators attention toward the stage (although there are a few still with their backs turned and I can’t help but wonder why bother coming to a show if your not going to watch). Purr’s gesture of “If your cold, move around” is a fitting intro to accompany the dynamic With Loaded Guns, you can’t help but move your feat to it’s contagious beat. New … additions to the line up mean that This City are not firing on all cylinders tonight but I am sure with time the guys will find their feet.

Young Guns have made an incredible impact on the London scene lately and their presence is dually welcomed as they start the night off with their hair tingling new single Winter Kiss. From the first moment Gus’s mouth opens it’s evident that he is hell bent on turning the crowd upside down. The mellifluous mid section to Winter Kiss is even more jaw-dropping with the full voice of the venue mirroring Gus’s lines. Weight Of The World culminates in the first circle pit of the evening and YG shift the gears, soon enough the whole room is in a spin, inside out and sweating and panting like it’s nobody’s business.

The atmosphere inside has changed dramatically from the beginning of the evening and the momentum keeps building up until You Me At Six make their way on stage, with the crowd literally going mental at Josh Franceschi starts. Being by first experience of YMAS I decided to keep to the back, find the best view and try and take it all in. Time went by so fast and although I didn’t know a single track I could easily see each one becoming favorites in time.

YMAS have been slated and praised, my thinking is a lot more logic or at least to me. In a live setting you can’t say a bad word about them, the band give it their all and Josh is model front man with a great voice. If you however are able to muster up bad vibes about them then your probably a music hating agoraphobic who in essence was more perturbed about being out of the house then actually paying attention to the stage.

Support: Stars Of The Search Party, This City, Kids In Glass Houses

Words Eric Cannon / photo’s by Brendan Monteiro

Stars Of The Search Party get things in motion this evening, it’s their launch party for new album ‘Lost In The Dust: Pt ll’ and the enthusiasm is apparent on stage. With such a sparkling line up tonight it seemed it may have been a difficult job starting the proceedings but SOTSP step up to the plate and play a tight set and suprise a lot of the older part of this crowd.

This City bombard the stage and in an instant their distinct dancey burst of energy get the venue buzzing. Their beats are infectious and line’s like “please crush my ego and not my heart” from Loaded Guns are constantly echoing in head for the rest of the evening. This City has got to be one of the most promising bands in the UK at the moment and it is only a matter of time that the likes of We Move will be invading the radio waves.

Kids In Glass Houses are a late entry to the bill but might be due to the fact that Jason Perry has a link to the band. I am very unfamiliar with their material but as the first notes resonate from their instruments and find their way to my ears I am completely gobsmacked. They are as tight as sardines in a can and their sound is as crisp as a morning breeze sending chills down my spine, I can’t explain enough about how amazing their sound was. Aled leads the way and is the quintessential frontman, commanding the attention of every audience member. His stage presence reminds me a lot of Adam Lazzara in the way he invokes so much passion into his singing. Like I said before I am not familiar with their material but I do know that they have a new album coming out soon and it’s already on my wish list.

Tonight’s headliners are A and it seems like the majority are old school fans and the band seem to play accordingly. A vast majority of the set is made up of ‘A’ vs Monkey Kong with sprinkles of their hit album Hi Fi Serious and their last album Teen Dance Ordinance. Rush Song might not have got the acclaim it deserved at the time of it’s release but it’s hard edge rock sound has arms punching the sky tonight. Foghorn is the only song from How Ace Are Buildings but it is definitely one of the standout songs for, with Jason getting his punk on being a classic polaroid moment. Jason co-produced How Ace Are Buildings with Thom Wilson (Offspring – Smash) and it’s only after finding out this bit of info that the resemblance’s make more sense. They finish off the set with Nothing and an encore of Something’s Going On that almost brings down the house, there was a final song but I have no idea what it was and on trying to find out I could not reach any conclusion. I did manage to see a print of the setlist which had the last song as POB, any ideas?

The most notable part of the evening for me however has to be the point where Jason states that A are not trying to be rock stars in any way and that tonight’s show is more like a golf weekend for the band. Meaning that this is something these guys love to do, they did this show for themselves and the fans that truly love them. Something so pure and honest as this gesture is rarely seen with many bands and it’s always nice to know that the bands we love are all just like us anyway.

Setlist: If It Ain’t Broke Fix It Anyway, Monkey Kong, Starbucks, Old Folks, Rush Song, Going Down, Good Time, I love Lake Tahoe, The Distance, Foghorn, Nothing Something’s Going On, POB

Words by Ian Dickinson

If more clubs and bars played music like this I could be tempted to substitute the old man pubs that I prefer to frequent for something slightly more energetic than old age pensioners, pork scratchings and moldy dogs. As I listen to This City, the Smart Arse (Genius) function on my iTunes informs me that if I likeThis City, I will probably enjoy Enter Shikari and Hadouken! Not so smart after all. The similarity with these bands goes no further than the ability to get you gyrating, rocking and moshing. This City retain a hardcore sensibility and fortitude that give them a genuine intensity. At no time do I feel the necessity to spend my money on glow sticks, alcopops and clothing from H&M. This City have created music that the beardy and tattooed men of the world will proudly dance to. This has to be a good thing, right?

Formed back in 2006 after a friendship developed over a mutual love of tattoo’s. Chris Purr (vocals), Arran Day (guitar) both from the seaside punk and club Mecca of Brighton were joined by Grant Coleman (guitar), George Travis (bass) and Nick Burdett (drums). In January 2009, after years of independent releases, This City were signed to one of the most successful independent record labels of all time; Epitaph. The 3 album deal see’s This City in good company with the likes of Converge, Frank Turner, Bring Me The Horizon and Bad Religion.

This City recorded their 10 track debut earlier this year with producer Matt Bayles, who has worked on releases by Mastodon, Blood Brothers and Fall Of Troy. The result of two months in Seattle is We Were Like Sharks which was released in October. As a quick summary This City play melodic post hardcore that you can actually dance to. Brilliant.

Album opener We Move is a blistering tune, catchy and fast paced, it is guaranteed to get the dance floor filled. This City are not like the new wave of trance and house influenced heavy bands which have grown in popularity over the past years. This is simply hardcore with a rhythmic pulse and beat that demands that you dance. There is no electronic wizardry, drum machines or DJs. This keeps it raw and gritty. Purr’s vocal style is combination of melodic and confrontational. At times sounding like an English At The Drive-In era Cedric Bixler-Zavala. Purr maintains a bubbling repressed anger that builds and bursts with the dance floor beats and snarling guitars. My personal favorite, With Loaded Guns is reminiscent of the sadly long deceased Test Icicles. Punky, erratic and contagious. As Purr sings “please crush my ego and not my heart”; with every repetition of the words, the song and lyrics become more piercing and powerful. Vocally there is a lot going on in This City. Purrs snotty punk style is complimented by melodic moments, aggressive gang vocals, hardcore snarls, screams and harmonies. The variety of vocal styles mirrors the diversity of the tracks on We Were Like Sharks. Each track has its own character and feel, meaning there is no chance of boredom creeping in. This City are talented and broad minded, it will be exciting to see which direction they take on their next release.

The rapid tempo and thumping beats courtesy of Burdett and Travis create tracks that you can move to. There is a byproduct of this combination. The creation of attacking, punchy and passionate hardcore. The pace and fire that This City produce is as infectious as it is powerful. What This City have achieved, where many have failed, is in bridging the gap between creating legitimate, decent post hardcore that also lends itself well to the dance floor, much in the same way that their home town of Brighton has. Watch out world thanks to This City I will be clearing dance floors across the country!