RX Bandits + Circa Survive + From Indian Lakes @ O2 Academy 2, 23rd May 2015
Circa Survive come to Birmingham, having not played here for more than 3 years, on a co-headline tour with RX Bandits, bringing with them From Indian Lakes for support. With both bands releasing their latest albums last year, with Circa Survive’s ‘Descensus’ and RX Bandits’ ‘Gemini, Her Majesty’ this is the first time both bands have had the chance to play new songs live to English fans. Having been listening to Circa Survive for a number of years, I had in fact only just started listening to RX Bandits and from my brief listening time, I wouldn’t have usually put these two bands on the same bill.
I arrive to the venue late, unfortunately missing From Indian Lakes. The room is barely half full which comes as little surprise as there are numerous other events happening across the city. Tonight Circa Survive take to the stage first, as both bands have been switching up every night as to who finishes the night.
Starting off with ‘Child Of The Desert’ from their latest album, a song that is a bit of slow burner, always threatening to kick in but always tracking back at the last minute, when it finally does kick in, it’s definitely better for it. Front-man Anthony Green is already displaying his high-pitched voice that he is perhaps best known for, and it sounds brilliant in a live setting. I’m sure plenty of people have been put of it due to how high it is, but I’m pretty sure his voice is one of the reasons why people listen to Circa.
They play a nice mix of old and new, with a focus on songs from ‘Descensus’. Anthony is a captivating frontman throughout, leaping about the stage, scuttling around and having a joke with our photographer about seeing the ‘Banditos’ later on. From start to finish he was entertaining the crowd with his antics, while the rest of the band played their unique mix of post-hardcore and prog-rock to perfection. The band didn’t seem phased by the small turn-out as the select people in attendance were loving every minute of it, plenty of those captivated by Anthony, who finished the set on the back of guitarist Brendan Ekstrom before wrapping his mic lead around said guitar players neck, during arguably the best song of the night ‘Get Out’.
RX Bandits are a band I wasn’t too familiar with, and as Circa Survive finished, their fans headed back from the front and made way for the Rx Bandits fans. The room did fill out a bit more, but still nowhere near capacity, which was a shame as they put on an assured performance. Sounding tight from the get go, which is expected considering the band have been around for 20 years, despite a few changes during that time, even the newest members have been with the band since 2001. Their set generally leans on their newer stuff, having dropped the Ska sound that adorned their earlier music, and then dropping the horns all together a few albums ago.
Much like Circa Survive there is definite Prog vibes pulsing through their music, though there is still Ska influences and a sound that wouldn’t go amiss in an old school skating video game. Frontman/guitarist Matt Embree can sure sing, reminding me more than a little bit of Sublime’s Bradley Nowell and there is plenty of talent within the band to justify their long life as a band, guitarist Steve Choi gets a few chances to show off some of his shredding skills and drummer Christopher Tsagakis holds the whole band together as they explore various different time signatures and tempos.
I think it was pretty clear during the night the audience was here to see either Circa Survive or RX Bandits, but I think everyone in the room got a pretty good deal. Not only seeing the band they came for but also witnessing a great band for the other half of the night. I’m sure there will be plenty of Circa fans taking more of a look at RX (myself included) and visa versa.
Review: Francis Sebestjanowicz
Photography: Sophie Jones