A Day To Remember + For The Fallen Dreams + Azriel @ Birmingham Barfly – 21st February 2009
It’s the first time in a while that the barfly has been sold out so the room is absolutely rammed. It makes a nice change to be warm in there, but the long wait for Azriel gets rather tedious. However their tactics clearly paid off, with a big 2-step pit opening up as soon as the boys walk on stage.
Their brutal metalcore is tight, but unimaginative. Like a lot of bands of this genre, a one of song is very cool, and their albums are usually very good, but once onstage all of the technicality is lost, leaving the audience with a constant barrage of very samey sounding heaviness. The vocalist, while impressively lively lacks power, and when all you can really hear is the vocals this really cuts down on the impact of the band.
Next on is the very similar sounding For The Fallen Dreams. A definite improvement on Azriel, but not really what was needed to get people in the mood for the headliners. Two metalcore bands in support of hardcore punk just seems a bit odd. FTFD play a pretty tight set and have some good fun on stage, but there’s not much more that can be said about them.
Finally A Day To Remember hit the stage, and it’s clear who everyone is here to see. Mass cheering, and screams of ‘I love you’ from the front row as soon as front man Jeremy walks out, and crowd surfing seconds into the first song. The band are very tight considering that their guitarist was a last minute stand-in for Tom who had broken his wrist only weeks before, and get the audience involved from the start. It is clear that one good cover of a pop song is enough to take a band from half empty shows and support slots to great heights. Not that they don’t deserve it, these guys clearly play their hardest, and love every second.
While the sound quality is a little mushy, the vocals cut through nicely meaning every song is well recognisable and the crowd sings back every word. There were points when the people nearby over-powered the band themselves, and its times like that and the shiver goes down your spine that you know you’re seeing something special. Overall a great show, although the PA could’ve been better, I recommend seeing these guys soon.
Review – Terra Duff
Photos – Dave Musson
I kinda gotta disagree. I think FTFD is relatively unknown by a lot of people so when they hear them it sounds like they are sort of generic when bands like Attack Attack (new cd) among others have been ripping off their sound for a while. Now dont get me wrong I love ADTR but I’ve never been overly impressed by their live stuff. Always a good time but they never sound especially great even considering the simplicity of their songs.
Terra, whoever you are, first of all learn your grammar and spelling before you post a show review. second, dont give bias feedback on bands you dont know. especially when you don’t know much about metal. adtr is a overly happy sounding punk band with clean vocals, much different than ftfd which is metalcore/hardcore. maybe you couldnt understand the words because you were to busy suckin’ Dave Musson’s dick.
bands like ADTR, for today and attack attack and 90% of the new bands that pop up every single day are destroying the music industry for hardworking bands that have been doing it way before it was so commercial to be in a band. bands like for the fallen dreams where around way before for today, attack attack and ADTR. and yet those bands are the ones being praised for doing something that has been done. i saw adtr play a basement show in wilmington delaware when they where still signed with Indinola records, and ive seen them like 4 times since they got big. and they killed the basement show. all the other times they seriously sucked.
its just a shame that being in a band has got so commercialized that you dont even have to be musically inclined to make it.
first off i find people who insult bands off popularity extremely immature. if you like a band it should be based on how unknown they are. don’t hate on a band because you have certain tiffs about shit. if you like a band you should be happy they are becoming successful and be proud to be a fan. all of these bands are incredible..so shut your fucking mouth
Why don’t we just stop arguing and enjoy every band that sounds good, no matter how simple, no matter how heavy, no matter how soft,and no matter how popular. All of these bands are great. I love A Day To Remember and For The Fallen Dreams. I don’t create biases just because one band that started later became more popular than a band that started earlier. ADTR just had something for everybody and FTFD has stuff for people who love heavier music.
pz la neta esta chida esta banda, me gusta su look es similar como la de suicide silence.