OF MICE & MEN: LIVE review [18/04/2014]

So Of Mice & Men have been one of my favourite bands for a while now, and to finally see them live at one the best venues in London was pretty amazing!

So, I missed most of Beartooth’s set, but what I did get to see of them was a pretty loud crowd and quite a wide pit for an opening act. Big praise for being able to do that! Also, during this act was when my mates and I were trying to squeeze our way to the front. But we all know – IF YOU ARRIVE LATE, YOU’RE GONNA FUCKING BE AT THE BACK!

So, next up on the bill was Issues. Now I’m a huge fan of their EP and was glad to hear my favourites such as ‘Love. Sex. Riot.’ and ‘Princeton Ave.’, but should they not have played more songs off of their new album? With that little note aside, all songs were received well by the crowd and I for one would just like to say that I was rapping like a G in ‘Love. Sex. Riot.’. Applaud me.

Can you spot Austin... or his head even?

A while after Issues and finally the act EVERYONE in the venue was waiting for – OF MICE & MEN. The crowd started getting rowdy as we anticipated ‘Public Service Announcement’ to get us going. We’re fully pumped now, as the band delves into ‘The Flood’ with that submarine sound that gets me every time. Around this time is when I’m finding my way near the mid-front of the crowd and loving it.

Fast forwarding a bit, and the crowd go quiet for ‘Another You’, the breather and one of the softer tracks in the album. Now I’ll take this moment to commend Aaron Pauley’s voice and the consistent in-tune singing he displayed on stage. What a great addition to the band he is!

So, every band has that one song that EVERYONE, no matter how small of a fan you are, knows. And if you’re reading this review (probably because you listen to OM&M), then I’m confident you know what song I’m talking about… ‘SECOND AND SEBRING’! This is the song most probably everyone in the metalcore genre knows, love it or hate it. And the crowd, including me, knew every lyric!

After ‘Glass Hearts’, we see OM&M play their penultimate song -‘The Depths’. Now apparently this has happened at their other gigs, but Austin tells us to get down on our knees (not like that, you dirt bag). Then shouts at us to ‘GET UPPPPPPPP’ as the song kicks off and we start going mental and punching people in the throat.

Although ‘The Depths’ was meant to be the last song of the night, both the crowd and the band knew there’d be a demand for an encore. ‘You’re Not Alone’ being one of the masses’ favourites and having a message of unity, it was only right they ended with it.

TO SUM UP A GOOD GIG: if you can taste salt on your face from all the perspiration and your shoes are ripped more than ever… And that was definitely this night. All three bands delivered!

*Also, to the guy that lost his shoe, I hope you found it. Well, it has been around a month now, so you’ve probably moved on with your life. Farewell.