Lower Than Atlantis + As It Is + Moose Blood + Black Foxxes @ The Institute, 12th December 2015
After what feels like a very busy 2015 on the live music front, tonight marks the end…of my gig going for the year. And it terms of going out with a bang, tonight looks like it has great potential.
I arrive midway through openers Black Foxxes, knowing nothing about them other than they’re playing Download Festival next year. Well, if tonight is anything to go by, they will be one of the bands to see that weekend. Sounding like a blend of Placebo, Manchester Orchestra and All Get Out, this threesome’s mixture of melody and raw power is fabulous and they rip through their set. It wouldn’t be too much of stretch to say this is one of the best support slots I’ve seen all year and, having picked up their EP from the merch stand afterwards, I’m already very excited to see them again.
Next up is British emo masters Moose Blood, who seem to have been on tour permanently in 2015 — they were the first gig I attended this year back in January, so it feels appropriate that they’re also here for my last one. As they have been every time I’ve seen them in 2015, Moose Blood put on a fantastic show. They’re not a band for onstage frills, instead they just their songs with passion and heart. It just so happens that their songs are amazing so the result is always something special, and the crowd reacts well. That Moose Blood are a fantastic live band has well and truly proven throughout 2015, the challenge for them for 2016 is to get another belting album out and start to mix the setlist up a bit more. They undoubtedly have the talent, so here’s hoping they take the next step.
Taking the main support slot tonight are American pop-punkers As It Is who, after the brilliance and originality of the first two bands, really feel like a let down. Yes, they have a decent amount of energy and yes, the crowd seems to enjoy them, but my god they are dull. Their music is sickly sweet, utterly predictable and instantly forgettable, while their singer seems to spend more time sticking his tongue out than he does singing. Maybe I’m too old to understand the appeal of this band, but the end of their set can’t come quickly enough.
And so onto the headliners, for whom it’s been quite a remarkable 18 months or so. Through the release of their excellent self-titled album last year, Lower Than Atlantis have suddenly been propelled into the realms of the mainstream and the larger adulation that comes with it. Thankfully, it doesn’t seem to have gone to their heads; they’re still down-to-earth good humoured blokes who play cracking rock music, and tonight’s show is a celebration of just how far they’ve come.
Opening with new track Get Over It, the rest of the set leans heavily on the aforementioned self-titled album, with cuts like Emily, Ain’t No Friend and Live Fast, Die Slow all sounding great, and going down a storm. It’s not all new stuff though, with firm LTA favourites like (Motor)Way of Life and an acoustic run through of Deadliest Catch all getting an airing. The band has skills all over the place, but it’s singer/guitarist Mike Duce who most regularly wins the battle for your attention; he’s an understated but impressive singer and a quite brilliant guitarist who can command a room full of screaming fans with ease.
Returning for a blistering encore of English Kids In America and the stomptatsic Here We Go, you can really see the potential for LTA to go even bigger and follow in the footsteps of other British rock bands that can fill arenas — like You Me At Six but a far, far better band. I guess, as it is with any successful album, Lower Than Atlantis now have to back it up with something better. Here’s hoping they rise to that challenge.
Review and photos — Dave Musson