High Wycombe’s five piece are obviously going somewhere this year, with them being voted 1st and 2nd place respectively in best British newcomers and best unsigned act in Rock Sound, ranked 5th on MySpace’s’ Tip for 2010 AND Kerrang! own ‘best new band of 2009’, it seems right that they are on one of the tours that will no doubt rocket them even further into the world of music. With only having the Mirrors EP and ‘Winter Kiss’ to their name, the band storm through their set, delivering songs that the crowd who made it in early enough can throw their fists into the air to and chant along to. Young Guns songs are feisty and are accompanied by an energetic performance, mostly from front man Gustav Wood who was strutting around the stage and jumping around at every opportunity, was a wall of death. It’s not hard to see why this band is hotly tipped for the coming year, and it’s a shame that many people missed one of the best performances of the night.
Next up were, My Passion, a band who’ve built up quite a following over the last year. Having heard that at other dates on the Kerrang! Tour this band had been booed, I was surprised not to hear any. The band, who look quite gothic, take this over into their music style whilst adding electro to the mix, which is evident in songs such as ‘Vultures are People too’. Not being a fan of My Passion, almost to the point of dreading their set, I was pleasantly surprised with them. From the heavy head banging song ‘Crazy and Me’ to the lighter and more danceable tune of ‘Day of the Bee’ they delivered a set that was enjoyable at least.
Everyone’s favourite Welsh band I, and alot of others too, if the screams of ‘I love you Sean Smith’ were anything to go by, had been looking forward to most, bounded onto the stage playing ‘Children of the Night.’ The Blackout. Sean Smith [vocals] provided great banter as he does with all Blackout shows, as well as energy that not many bands can compete against. The melodic ‘It’s High Tide Baby!’ give the crowd, and the band, to take a break from its energetic set. With the crowd singing along to every word, and especially the chorus, in perfect pitch it’s actually believable when Gavin Butler [vocals] tells the audience that they’ve been the best crowd yet. As usual with The Blackout’s set, you HAVE to join in. During ‘Save Our Selves (The Warning)’ Sean declares we can ‘either kneel down, or fuck off.’ When the no-one’s fucked off but instead kneeled down, we know who the real winner is; and during ‘We’re going to Hell… So Bring the Sun Block’ Sean makes the crowd ‘be zombies’ in preparation for the song. Ending on: ‘I’m A Riot? You’re A Fucking Riot!’ a fast paced and feisty song, off their first release, ‘the Blackout! The blackout! The Blackout!’ the band had truly got everyone pumped up and even induced some crowd surfers.
With the o2 Academy now extremely sweaty and hyped up, eventually, Maryland’s All Time Low came on to ‘Lost in Stereo’ a punchy number to get the crowd hyped up again. In between their catchy songs, such as ‘Stella’ and ‘break your little heart’ both from the new album, their banter that sounds like it could be stolen from Blink-182. After the heavy sounding acts of Young Guns, The Blackout and at a push, My Passion, All Time Low, in my opinion seemed a little too tame.