Spread the Social Love:

Review: Young Guns w/We Are The In Crowd & Your Demise @ Shepherds Bush Empire [Live]

17th October 2012 // “...continued their winning streak in the Capital with a literally explosive and spine-tingling UK tour finale"

by Candi H, October 27th, 2012 and has been Read 1149 times.
Last Edited by: Jack Stovin October 27th, 2012.

Follow @candii_h

After earning more than enough love from their homeland, British melodic alt-rockers Young Guns quite rightly set their sights on conquering new and bigger plains. Their impressive sophomore full-length Bones was released in the US last month and followed with a tour supporting long-time grunge rockers, Seether. With a plan to break the States in motion, the quintet from High Wycombe were in high spirits when an 8-date Vans sponsored tour of the UK came calling. Holed up in London's Shepherds Bush Empire, I was there to see the last show from the Vans Off The Wall tour. An earlier tweet from the band had caused a brief scare as an acoustic show on the same day was cancelled due to frontman Gus Wood not feeling well. However sighs of relief came when they confirmed that the evenings event was 100% still on.

And so it was on with the show and unfortunately for Marmozets, an early performance time meant that I missed their set. And so it was Your Demise who kicked off my evening. As I settled into place, my first sight was of singer Ed McRae stomping across the grand stage, sporting a flailing red scarf under his backwards new era cap. What followed were a series of hardcore-punk wallops to knock your block off. With a set comprised of nearly all tracks from their latest release The Golden Age, the St Albans guys knocked out high speed, high energy thrashers like ‘Push Me Under’ and ‘Born A Snake’. All whilst circle pits on the floor space gradually opened, pulling as many in as it could muster. The ferocious title-track really hit home; the frontman stripping himself of scarf, hat and eventually sweater as the set got into full swing. The quintet closed their feral performance with the rabid ‘Miles Away’ and machine-gun paced ‘The Kids We Used To Be...’, both from their previous album of the same name. Multiple crowdsurfers rose, fell and ploughed through the sea of bodies intent on reaching their heroes for at least a second. As the song climaxed, Ed effortlessly front-rolled into the crowd for a memorable finish.

WATCH // 'These Lights'

The next act looked and sounded like kittens next to the British bulldogs who graced the stage prior. Rising New York pop-punkers, We Are The In Crowd stepped out fresh-faced and rainbow coloured onto the legendary Empire stage. Immense cries of joy pierced the air as they opened with the sickly sweet ‘Never Be What You Want’; singer’s Jordan Eckes and Tay Jardine exchanging warm glances as their crisp clean vocals swam through the audience. The bubbly sunshine-smothered ‘Both Sides Of The Story’ and ‘For The Win’ from 2010’s Guaranteed to Disagree EP are undeniably catchy and heart-warming. And in the live environment they sounded brawnier, to my relief and pleasure. The big smile on Tay’s face was fixed and as she pointed out, “You’re lucky you get to see a show with really different bands!” it was something to indeed smile about as no other tour would have brought together such a diverse line-up.

The cheesy but hard not to like, ‘Kiss Me Again’ got the masses of young girls clutching at their hearts with glee. And I even found myself dancing along to more hits from new album Best Intentions, like the bouncy and infectious ‘Exits and Entrances’ with its big sing-along chorus. The band encouraged hands in the air and unsurprisingly multiple heart signs appeared as the final song of the set was looming. “We have just been told that this song has made it onto Radio 1, so thank you!” the brunette excitedly informed the room before a cracking and energetic ‘Rumour Mill’ swelled and soared. As the masses jumped and sang blissfully, I noticed something fly towards my face and naturally ducked out of the way. It wasn’t until I caught sight of something similar in front that I realised what it was; a storm of multi-coloured blow-up beach balls which were cascading from the upper tiers! Arms were punching and grappling the toys which were emblazoned with the Vans logo and I nabbed myself a couple as a souvenir. I think every set should end like that.

WATCH // 'Kiss Me Again'

Young Guns entrance was greeted by boy band type screams and shrills; the youngest of the crowd very much making themselves known. They opened with the upbeat sing-along stomper, 'Dearly Departed' followed swiftly by the older but no less epic sounds of 'Weight Of The World' and 'Crystal Clear'. Gus, in a cut-off black Vans tee (of course) actually looked the picture of health and sounded on top form. And so the earlier worries of a below par show were thrown straight out of the window. Especially as they continued by comfortably pulling off a beautiful and emotional rendition of new track 'You Are Not'; the crowd swayed and waved to the command of the hypnotic chorus. It's not hard to fall in love with Young Guns; their live sound and presence is certainly one to be reckoned with, which is something that can be said even when comparing them to their US peers now. And their production each time I’ve seen them has improved and become grander; a huge Young Guns branded Union Jack provided the backdrop that night with two sturdy YG light boxes looking like dramatic bookends in front, especially when providing the only light at times.

Arena worthy hits 'Brothers In Arms' and 'I Was Born, I Have Lived' sounded every bit as soaring and all-encompassing as I'd have hoped. The lights dropped at this point to reveal drummer Ben wielding glow in the dark sticks, which although as useful as a blunt knife, looked really frickin’ cool. The dark rumble of 'Stitches' opening bassline then vibrated through the crowd and as my favourite track imploded, the atmosphere was truly amazing. "I just wanna say a big thank you to everyone behind the scenes and mostly to all of you" gushed the singer, before offering us the choice of the next song from their first EP, Mirrors. After shouts and cheers were weighed against each other, the frontman announced the winner to be 'There Will Be Rain' which I’d never heard live before. Its epic melody and ballsy rock prowess demonstrated how even back in 2009 this band knew that they wanted to sound big. Although obviously not knowing at the time they'd have the chance to play it to this sized crowd in the future.

A slightly adjusted version of 'Learn My Lesson' meant its first verse and chorus were played with only guitar accompanying the singer before crashing into the riotous single. Still full of beans, they thanked their supports for an amazing tour, as it was the last they’d see of them. A 20+ date stint in Europe was set to begin a mere two nights after the London show; most dates of which supported by a band I’ve talked a lot about this year, Don Broco. “So we wanna say a huge thank you” they passionately insisted again before exploding into All Our Kings Are Dead’s hard and heavy ‘D.O.A.’ and Bones’ pounding hit ‘Towers (On My Way)’. With orders from the band, a circle pit of both guys and girls eagerly commenced; woolly beanies and new era caps flying.

“This goes out to my mum” – A line that despite causing a few sniggers, saw the start to a hugely inspiring and brilliantly executed ‘Broadfields’. The power-ballad that’s about Gus’ upbringing in the North London estate is moving but didn’t have much impact on me on CD. However the emotion emanating from each member of the band as well as the main character of the story that evening, was utterly captivating. And as the quiet break around the three minute mark built tension, I don’t think anyone was ready for an endless shower of white confetti to coincide with the songs explosive return; the cries of “Rain, rain, rain, carry me home!” perfectly timed to the amazing climax. However, although it would’ve made a perfect end, the evening hadn’t finished.

An encore brought us the haunting classic ‘Winter Kiss’, which had everyone from all tiers in the historic venue chanting in unison. “I feel like we're only just getting started...The third record is going to be so much better than the last two!” an emotional and drained Gus uttered before the inevitable closing number ‘Bones’. And it was every bit as spectacular as I’d imagined; a track that had ‘big stadium hit’ written all over it when I first ever heard it. Big riffs and big gang vocals rumbled through the venue and to top it off, big turrets of smoke surged up from the front of the stage ending what was an unforgettable evening for both band and audience.

Young Guns energy and charisma has never failed to capture an audience and they continued their winning streak in the Capital with a literally explosive and spine-tingling UK tour finale. A small earlier health scare was forgotten the moment they appeared and confidently and effortlessly stormed their way through a phenomenal set. Bones was written for the big stage and with that and their mass of huge alt-rock weapons, they demonstrated how they’ve grown as performers and that they’re more than ready to take things to the next level.

Watermarked photos - Credit to Lauren Heywood.