This Aussie quartet have a lot to live up to given their Sydney based genre counterparts, 5 Seconds Of Summer have hit such heights over the past few years and With Confidence have now got to the point of hitting overseas for their own UK headline tour. Having been over here a few times in support of As It Is and, up until the cancellation would have been back here with Real Friends too. Without dwelling on what would have been, they’re here with support from Milestones, Safe To Say and Broadside and ready to give the Key Club something special.
As soon as the band take to the stage, the famous Leeds chant “u wot u wot Leeds” bellowed out from fans in the front, to the confusion of the band. Having only been the UK a handful of times before their own headline stint, any variety of Yorkshire based chants needed a little clarity before they continued with their set. Opening up with their new track ‘Voldemort’, which disappointingly has no Harry Potter references, sorry to anyone who had their hopes up. From then on it’s easy to see how the rest of this show is going to be, loud and rowdy at the front and push and shove inside circle pits to parts of songs that are the opposite of where a circle put should be, but maybe that’s the fun of it.
With what is reminiscent of early All Time Low shows, screaming fans in the front row and mothers with their young daughters in the back, there’s a part of With Confidence that steps into the new era of pop punk bands alongside State Champs and Neck Deep but with a slightly lighter edge that’s more accessible than at first glance. Tracks likes ‘Higher’ and ‘We’ll Be Okay’ provide some sweet little hooks giving first time listeners something to go home humming to.
Pop punk shows in such small venues are known for the odd crowd surfer clambering their way upon the stage and leaping back into the crowd and what seems like harmless fun, some take the ability to get up on stage a little too far as some lads take a moment to selfie their way across the stage which guitarist Luke Rockets didn’t take kindly too, shoving them back to where they came from.
Still obviously aggravated by some of the crowd members antics that had some of the crew running around to save some of the fans at the very front being squashed between the combination of the rowdy pits and the constant crowd surfers. The band did their best to let the crowd know when they needed to calm it down a little in between encore tracks ‘London Lights’ and ‘Keeper’. Their noticeable core fanbase will set them up for bigger things in years to come.
Photo Credit: Erin Moore/ Forte Photography UK
