The Kerrang! tour has been a staple in gig goers calendars for years, big names playing smaller venues accompanied by bands you’ve seen flicking through the pages of the magazine all year round. The line-up is, most of the time, so diverse that you’ll have your ears treated to new genres of music. Past line-up’s have included the likes of All Time Low, Biffy Clyro, Limp Bizkit and Bullet For My Valentine; which makes this years line up a little different. The Amity Affliction, one of Australia’s biggest metal bands don’t have quite the same welcoming here in the UK as they do in their native land. The venue sizes are on the smaller scale but with support from Casey, Vukovi and Boston Manor it’s going to make for a sweaty show.
Scottish four piece Vukovi are on a roll after the release of their debut album at the start of the year. Tracks like ‘La Di Da’ and ‘Animal’ exude that much more energy live than on record but it’s the charisma of lead singer Janine Shilstone that brings it all together, spending most of her time along the side of the barrier, stealing phones and filming herself with the crowd. Expect to see good things to come from this fascinating foursome in the future.
Boston Manor lay in the shadow of one of the most popular genres at the moment, the sort of pop punk that Neck Deep and State Champs are riding on. Aside from having the odd few fans scattered around their energetic set pulled the audience’s attention a little but it’s evident the band on next are who everyone has come to see.
The Amity Affliction, still riding the wave of their 2016 album This Could Be Heartbreak declared they wouldn’t be back in the UK for another year so this would be everybody’s last chance for a while to see the Australian group.
Their setlist mashed up of tracks from only their last three studio albums, ‘Chasing Ghosts’ made for a grand treat whereas ‘Death’s Hand’ was a cluster of chaos, as always. A band of little words they may be, but their music does the talking for them. Most loved track ‘Pittsburgh’ drives the momentum of the crowd surfers who continue to pile over the barricade. One kid went as far as jumping onto the stage during ‘This Could Be Heartbreak’ to scream the final notes alongside Joel Birch.
Photo’s Credit: Forte Photography UK
