Marianas Trench + Club Drive @ The Institute, 2nd May 2017
Finding out that Marianas Trench were returning to the UK for the second time in under a year, I was elated! Having waited nearly 10 years to see them once, I was in for a treat to see them for a second time. As they had to cancel the remainder of their European tour last time due to Josh not being allowed to use his voice for 3 months, instead of upsetting the fans, they decided to redo the tour thus giving us fans in Birmingham a double chance to see them!
Arriving at The Insititute, the queues were already in chaos as there were 3 gigs going on in the same building but there was a buzz of excitement for tonights events throughout the crowd of people waiting to get in. The security were on their game though and everyone managed to get in quite quickly so soon all around us were fellow ‘trenchers’, excited for the main act.
First up were an English 4 piece pop/punk band called ‘Club Drive‘, having never heard of them before I was unsure if they were going to be any good. Luckily they turned out to be a solid band, melodic and energetic, just what the gig needed. They got the crowd interacting and dancing with songs such as ‘Spare Time’ which is BBC’s introducing track of the week. Definitely this is one band to watch out for, with catchy tunes and an excellent voice, I can see this band being the next ‘Maroon 5’.
By the time Club Drive had finished their set, the room had filled and the atmosphere was highly charged and positive, most of the crowd singing along to the 80’s tracks on in the background. Eventually the lights went down and the 4 piece pop/punk/emo band from Vancouver strutted onto the stage.
Josh in a black and white hooded vest kept his face covered for most of the first song ‘Astoria’ before pulling it down to a vast amount of screaming girls. Bouncing around the stage with huge amounts of energy, it was clear to anyone who had seen them last time that Josh had definitely been ill last time as he was as hyped up as a kid on a pogo stick, barely standing still for more than two seconds. Using the mic as a play toy, he swung it and danced with it throughout the songs whilst jumping up and down like a preteen at a ‘1D’ concert. Flawlessly executed, Josh’s voice was ‘on point’, and you would have never of guessed that just a few mere months ago he was banned from singing. Hitting notes that you’d think were impossible for a man to do, he belted out amazing songs such as ‘Here’s to the Zeros’, ‘One Love’, ‘Fallout’ and ‘All to Myself’. Focusing on more of their newer stuff this time round, they still had the crowd singing along to ‘Who Do You Love’ and ‘This Means War’. This included plenty of harmonies backed up by Matt and Mike and all of these were absolutely stunning, completely impeccable.
One of the funniest part of the gig was when the crowd had to repeat the vocals that Josh said. After doing so he said ‘Oh, usually I have to do it a couple of times with the crowd until they get it right, but you lot got it right first time so good job!’ And carried on singing. Apparently Birmingham can sing! Another favourite moment for me was hearing ‘Pop 101’, an ironic song about the rubbish of today’s chart music.
As the rest of the band went off for a quick breather Josh stayed on stage to do an emotional and heartfelt performance of ‘Good to You’ and then was joined back on stage for the final two songs.
Amazing gig, stunning vocals. Just perfect. Cannot fault their performance and will definitely be back to see them next time they are in the UK. If you want to hear excellent songs and have a good time, you should see them next time too.
Review and Photographs: Shaz Rafferty