The Blackout Say Farewell With Incredible Show
Published
It’s an ordinary Saturday. Sitting in my onesie re-watching Prison Break, I’m quite content with knowing that I won’t be moving all day. Then, out of nowhere, a friend tells me he’s got two tickets to The Blackout’s last ever show and just like that, a 3-hour road trip to Wales begins. Arriving in The Blackout’s hometown of Merthyr Tydfil, you can probably imagine how any normal person would react upon the realisation that the gig would be taking place in the sports hall of the village leisure centre.
The Blackout waste no time taking their place on the makeshift stage and opening with the title track of their recent EP, "Wolves". Initial crowd reaction was fine, though somewhat uninspired, failing to reflect the fact that this would be the last chance to party with the band. Perhaps this is explained by a combination of the well-lit room and the funky stage lighting, making the event feel like a high-budget school disco featuring The Blackout. Alas, several members of the crowd allowed their overflow of energy spill into everyone else, and before long, everyone was jumping, moshing and dancing.
The band have made a point of letting people know that they’ll be recording this final show to make a DVD, so it felt strange that the band didn’t seem to be doing anything remarkable (beyond playing in a leisure centre). And then it happened… during "We’re Going To Hell…So Bring the Sunblock" and "Prepare for a Wound", the band revealed, by Gavin Butler (lead vocals) nearly accidentally igniting, that they’d brought pyrotechnics to add to the whole experience. Not a band to ever use pyro at the best of times, the pillars of fire that suddenly illuminated the entire room complemented the music wonderfully and ensured that this would be a school disco to remember forever.
Historically, I’ve taken pride in the fact that I’m like Marmite at gigs – either loved or hated, based on individual views towards moshing (because lord knows I will open the pit if someone doesn’t beat me to it). The cool thing about this show was that everyone was so positive – there were no haters and with literally every passing song, the amount of activity in the pit increased. 3 moshers soon became 20, and 20 became 150, making for one of the friendliest and upbeat crowds I’ve been part of.
The entire population of the room bounced as one during "The Storm", "Hope" prompted a truly wonderful singalong in the middle of the set, and "The Beijing Cocktail" signaled the beginning of the hilarity in which the mosh pit became a dance floor. Some people were doing back-flips, one guy attempted the worm, and everyone else set their shame aside and participated in a ridiculous attempt at a group Macarena, sped up to match the song. If this wasn’t enough, The Blackout have a really old song called "Murder in the Make-Believe Ballroom", during which people ignored their inhibitions, grabbed a partner, and started ballroom dancing. Every couple of minutes, something new occurred to ensure the show was truly a most memorable send off. Magic.
Content was also notable. Much to my surprise, the band played a lot of old songs, including a medley of tracks from the band’s first mini-album such as "Fashion Conscious Suicide" and "You and Your Friends vs Me and the Revolution", plus a bunch from 2007’s 'We Are The Dynamite'. Unsurprisingly, the best were saved for last. At the start of "Ambition is Critical", several members of the crowd took position and became a mini-catapult, propelling everyone else above the crowd, resulting in a sea of crowdsurfers.
"ShutTheFuckUppercut" featured a pretty vicious wall of death but set closer "Save Our Selves" is just on another level – the infectious “Woah-ohs” that accompany the chorus are just so moving; the kind of melody you can’t help but sing over and over again until you go to sleep. I don’t even like the song that much but it was undoubtedly the perfect way to mark the end of the band, hundreds of fans still singing it 20 minutes later.
As far as a finale gig goes, The Blackout totally nailed it. The venue and fire were amusing in their own right but most importantly the atmosphere was unbelievable throughout, and mood was wholly positive; there were surprisingly few tears to ruin everyone’s mood. Lookout for the DVD, this was an absolute smasher!
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Words by Blaine Marshall
Video by George Barnes
