Gig Review: Kerrang! Relentless Energy Drink Tour. Featured Artists: New Found Glory, The Blackout, letlive., While She Sleeps Date & Venue: Thursday 16th February 2012, o2 Academy Birmingham Reviewer: Colin Russell-Ames With our country sadly lacking anything with the reputation of American’s titanic Warped Tour, the headbanging crowds of the UK have taken the Kerrang! Tour into their hearts over the past few years. The tour’s yearly combination of a powerhouse star or two topping a bill backed up by some of the best new rock music in the country has been a hit year after year, and this year’s 7th incarnation was no exception. This tour’s line up was arguably one of the strangest combinations we’ve seen, with pop-punk legends topping a much more hardcore bill than they would be used to. This was evidenced by the opening band, While She Sleeps, who came out screaming and never really stopped. The metalheads from the Steel City were an undeniable power on stage, inspiring even the least scream-friendly members of the crowd to move, mosh and, inevitably, crack open across the middle for a wall of death halfway through their closing song. The only criticism that could be directed towards the band was that they were all business on stage – tearing from one song to another with barely any time to breathe inbetween, only stopping to briefly namecheck Kerrang! Magazine and their tour mates before crashing off the stage as abruptly as they’d come on. However, it must be said, this might be due to the time constraints of being the opening band – see the band headlining and I feel this might be very different. Next up were an act that are causing one hell of a stir on the post-hardcore scene right now, letlive. – and they were pretty much everything While She Sleeps were, but turned up around 30 notches. Fast-paced, powerful rhythms topped off by the screaming vocal style of Jason Aalon Butler, a man who has (with good reason) developed a reputation as something of a madman. Throwing himself around (and off) the stage, riding a chair across the stage, disappearing completely from view only to come crashing back through the crowd, and causing himself harm on more than one occasion, including physically cutting his own stomach with a shard of a coffee cup he’d broken on the stage. However, therein lies letlive.’s greatest problem. While Jason’s ridiculous antics certainly make the band’s performance memorable, the music takes somewhat of a backseat. I honestly couldn’t tell you much about the songs they performed, only describe more of Jason’s intense showmanship. Perhaps if he learns to tone it down to the right level, it can remain memorable without becoming all-consuming.
“It’s simple, New Found Glory are one of the most fun bands to watch in the world,”