Catastrophe Averted, Light You Up & Four Year Strong Rescue The Rescue Rooms

It’s been a long time since Four Year Strong have toured the UK, so excitement for their wacky blend of pop-punk and melodic hardcore was at an all-time high in Rescue Rooms. With support from labelmates Hit The Lights and Light You Up, the night was set to be something special.

Kicking things off are Light You Up, who make decent work out of their tiny slot. 25 minutes of upbeat pop-punk tracks was plenty to showcase vocalist Tom’s fantastic voice. They originally feel out of place in a relatively quiet room, but the effects of a Monday at Rescue Rooms are suddenly realised, as the 2 for 1 drinks result in a very receptive crowd, not often experienced by an opening band. Light You Up feel like the kind of band you need to see in a headline slot to see what they truly have to offer, but it’s clear either way that they should truly do well in the future.

Just before the Hit The Lights set was due to start, a bomb was dropped on everyone present; the band were forced to pull out due to a chest infection. Why they chose not to reveal this information via Facebook and Twitter before the show is anyone’s guess, but it felt somewhat deceitful, resulting in many pissed off fans.

Surprisingly and fortunately, short of doubling Four Year Strong’s set, what replaced Hit The Lights was as close to satisfactory as possible. Light You Up’s Tom, the brave man that he is, came out and took centre stage, armed with nothing but an acoustic guitar. When Tom started playing a fantastic cover of TLC’s "No Scrubs", the feelings of discontent surrounding Hit The Lights faded from the crowd, and a huge sing-along ensued.

Fleetwood Mac and Deaf Havana songs followed, but the massive event occurred at the very end, when Tom played his cover of Bring Me The Horizon’s "Drown". Requested by the crowd, the response to the cover was jaw-dropping. For a moment, it felt like this very song was the reason people came to the show in the first place. Alas, all good things come to an end, but I daresay that Light You Up have made new fans out of everyone in the room after such a smashing, if not bold, performance.

Based on the ambiance of the room following Tom’s solo set, it’s quite possible that Four Year Strong could’ve really sucked and still got an excellent response; and that they did. Set opener "What The Hell Is A Gigawatt?" was plagued with sound problems, mostly on the part of guitarist/vocalist Dan O’Connor, whilst "Tonight We Feel Alive" which followed was even worse as the bass fell out.

Apparently oblivious to the fact that everything was going wrong, both the band and the crowd powered on with unexplainable passion, a feat that’s admirable in its own right. By the time the band performed "Stuck In The Middle", four or five songs in, the major problems had mostly solved themselves and the rest of the set got better and better with each passing song. The infectious riffs and huge choruses that the band are so known for became clearer every minute, and special mention needs to go to Jake on drums for a flawless performance throughout.

The tour is in support of new EP 'Go Down In History'.  A 5-track effort, the band played 3 songs to the near-capacity rescue rooms to, once more, an excellent reaction. While it’s a reasonable suggestion that this may be the most supportive and enthusiastic crowd ever, it’s worth noting that the new EP is actually a really good listen, and the songs translated really well live, particularly "What’s In The Box?" Considering the poor reception to 2011’s "In Some Way, Shape or Form", it’s reassuring that response to recent material is so strong, and hopefully the band can keep this up.

Things truly peaked towards the end of the band’s 15-track headline set. "Heroes Get Remembered, Legends Never Die" brought with it chaos on the Rescue Rooms dancefloor, whilst main set closer "It Must Really Suck To Be Four Year Strong Right Now" featured the single loudest sing-along I’ve been part of. Not one soul in the building stayed quiet during the chorus – even the bar staff were screaming along – making for an unforgettable night. A surprise appearance by a dude with a saxophone marked the start of "Bada Bing! Wit’ a Pipe!" as part of the encore, whilst "Wasting Time (Eternal Summer)" served as a perfect end to a successful night, every word sung aloud by all.

What could have been an absolute catastrophe for the whole night was recovered just in time for Four Year Strong to crush their performance, leaving hundreds of fans tired, sweaty and satisfied. Kudos to Light You Up for stepping up, the future should hold a pretty special place for these lads if this Monday night party is anything to go by.

To find out more about the bands on Pure Noise Records click here.

Words by Blaine Marshall

Picture by Paul .T. Hope

COMMENTS

• Emily Kyne
  Can't believe I missed this one!