Trash Boat + Broadside + Homebound @ O2 Institute, 27 September 2017
Trash Boat joined us in Birmingham for the last night of their latest headline tour, stretching the country and leaving nothing but praise and amazing words in its wake, therefore building the excitement for their time here in Birmingham.
Homebound graced the stage, to what was a full room and ensured the stage was fully warmed up with their powerful set. Despite only being an EP or so into their career, it’s clear they’ve already made a name for themselves and developed a dedicated fan-base, as the pits opened and hands were thrown in the air screaming along to the high energy songs. Their set seems over way too soon, as the crowd clearly loved them, I can only look forward to more appearances and more songs in the future.
As expected Broadside came out to the cheer of the whole audience. Having recently toured with With Confidence earlier in the year, it seems they left an impact on Birmingham and they left wanting more, which is exactly what they got tonight. Everyone was with them from the start, circle pits, moshing, fists in the air and general dancing, the crowd brought it all, and Broadside revelled in the crowds energy. Having come all the way from the States, they haven’t had a wasted journey, as they left the stage to the chant of “One More Song” that’s normally reserved for the nights headline.
Trash Boat’s turn and the room was ready. Bursting on the stage with ‘Tring Quarry’ it all went off; the room burst with energy with dancing and pits and crowd surfers, people on each others shoulder. Though it left me with the question “why have they only put one poor security guard on tonight?”, he went above and beyond making sure everyone was safe tonight, as the crowd were in love with the energy and it had no promise of stopping with a stream of bangers. ‘Perspective’ followed on from ‘Tring Quarry’, which was followed by ‘Boneless’ and ‘Second Wind’.
Lending themselves closer to punk than pop, Trash Boat show off their live skills by playing each eardrum-wrecking note to the absolute fullest. There’s certainly something about this band that they can mix melody, brash vocals and a fast pace without ever sounding too chaotic live. Though it’s when everything slows down for ‘Things We Leave Behind’ we get to gather ourselves. The band get to relax and compose themselves, before throwing us into ‘The Guise of a Mother’, which is where I think the band shines best along with the crowds chants and singing.
Again, it seems their set is over too soon; time flies with good music I suppose, and with hit after hit there hasn’t been any time lost or a song we didn’t know. Going off stage for little more than a minute before the chant of “One More Song” drags them back out for the encore of ‘Brave Face’ and ‘Strangers’.
This set has been perfect, their energy on point. Safe to say the crowd loved it and couldn’t get enough. With the band announcing it would be their last headline tour before delving back into the studio to record their next album. I can’t wait to see what they bring to the table next.
Trash Boat Setlist:
Tring Quarry, Perspective, Boneless, Second Wind, Pangea, Catharsis, Things We Leave Behind, The Guise of a Mother, How Selfish I Seem, Gnarmalade, Eleven, You Know You Know You Know, Brave Face, Strangers.
Reviewer: Jordan Wynn
Photographer: Neale Hayes