The song that came on the radio and eased my mood was Lionheart from the Southampton metalcore outfit's second album Union of Crowns. That track has been a favourite since.
 |
| Daniel Winter-Bates on the bar |
The venue is sold out and plenty of the crowd are in place to see support act Loathe - a Liverpudlian band of similar ilk to BT.
When the main act arrives on stage, they do so with gusto tearing into Royal Blood, An Honourable Reign and the aforementioned Lionheart. I'm a happy camper already.
With the promotional commitments for their last album Earthbound well and truly out the way, the band - spearheaded by Daniel Winter-Bates' raucous vocals alongside guitarist Jason Cameron's smoother voice - are able to deliver a greatest hits set.
That said, they follow next with Cemetery, Last Light, For Us and title track Earthbound from that album with only Sceptres thrown in to mix it up.
They then take things back to their 2009 debut album Portraits for You & I and The Western Front before rounding off with The Torch and Man on Fire.
This tour - of which Southend was the second date I believe - was titled the Stage Invasion Tour, and so it was only appropriate that during Man on Fire the crowd was invited to climb up and surround the band for their final song.
It was another show of the connection between the band and the fans first seen at that Download appearance when Winter-Bates had vowed to stay by the front of the stage until he'd signed every autograph and fulfilled every selfie request.
And that is no style over substance gimmick. The band have a quality catalogue of metalcore songs that they perform with passion and ferocity. I loved it and would've welcomed a few more songs - and I can't wait to see them live again.
