Paramore-esque rockers The Dirty Youth opened up with an electrifying rendition of their suitable hit, “Requiem of a Drunk”, which certainly got all sections of a packed-out Waterfront jumping, albeit some crowd-surfing as well. Lead vocalist Danni Monroe did exceptionally well in enticing her audience in chants of “La la la la, let’s get drunk!” This was a suitable opening to what turned out to be a fantastic night, and most possibly the springboard that the South Wales quintet needed to get themselves well and truly known in the rock world.
York superstars Glamour of the Kill are at a very similar stage. Having released their debut record, The Summoning, way back in 2011, they had gone rather quiet, until last year, when they had released their second offering “Savages”. And truth be told, their setlist was exactly that: Savage. Old singles such as breakthrough single “Feeling Alive”, which certainly got the crowd pumping (and crowd-surfing), and new songs such as “Break”, “A Freak Like Me”, and “Second Chance”, all but cemented their place in the music industry. Lead singer and bassist Davey Richmond was certainly impressive in his part with getting the pits fired up. And so, the support acts had managed to set the bar extremely high for the headliners.
Fresh from their tour of Australia and playing at their annual Soundwave festival, Heaven’s Basement were on a real high, having arrived back in the UK ready for their aptly named mammoth “Welcome Home” tour. It was also lucky that Norwich Waterfront happened to be the first date, which gave lead singer Aaron Buchanan even more of a reason to smile, being back in his stomping ground for the first time since last July, where the band had played upstairs in the same venue.
So, opening up with the first track of the same name, the band quickly got the audience bouncing and grooving. Aaron got up to his familiar trick of crowd-walking instead of crowd surfing a few times in the set, having hung on to the ceiling at one point as well. After the first three songs in their set, it’s clear that Heaven’s Basement had really turned up the heat, with every last concertgoer dripping with sweat and fuelled with adrenalin and booze, ready for a good night.
They then turned down the tempo completely to flow into their sole ballad on Filthy Empire, “The Price We Pay”. Unlike the version on the album, they had included electric guitars, which made the song more diverse. Buchanan’s vocals easily stood out tonight, and it’s not hard to figure out why. Lead guitarist and backup vocalist Sid Glover was also on hand to deliver a powerful rendition of old Basement hit “Paranoia”, with all of the old rock & roll attitude, which some critics nowadays would call ‘ballsy’.
Highlights of tonight included “Fire Fire”, with the band excelling in their performances of the track, (especially drummer Chris Rivers, who was really on form throughout the whole night, and bassist Rob Ellershaw, with his mind-blowing bass solos), curtain closer “I Am Electric” and “Executioner’s Day”. “Executioner’s Day” was arguably the band’s best performance of the night, with a phenomenal guitar solo by Glover, who is slowly becoming an established rock-star in his own right. Although, even their cover of Rolling Stones’ hit “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” was especially impressive for all four members.
Kieron Byde
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