Neck Deep // Boston Manor // Anxious // Live Review // The O2 Institute // Birmingham
Album anniversary tours are always special, especially when they’re celebrating 10years since the release of one of the best Pop-Punk albums to ever come out of the UK scene.
Neck Deep have had a meteoric rise to fame within the scene, and decided totake their celebratory tour to some more intimate venues across the country, and in mycase, it’s the o2 Institute in Birmingham. Along for the ride were openers Anxious, a hardcore-infused Pop-Punk 5-piece, and the Pop-Punk-turned-metal-inspired Boston Manor, to create one of the most stacked lineups I’ve had the pleasure of watching this year.
Anxious opened the show with boundless energy and some damn exemplary musicianship that got the crowd dancing and pitting pretty damn quick. The hardcore elements in their instrumentals, combined with Pop-Punk lyrics and vocal delivery, created a distinctive sound that made them stand out. The room was filling up throughout their set, and by the end of their time on stage, it was packed, moving along to the music. Call From You (their set’s opener) and In April were my personal highlights, but no moment of the set was anything but enthralling to see.
Photography: Dan Stapleton @ Pulse Media Visuals
Anxious online:
Bandcamp / Twitter / Instagram
After the changeover, Boston Manor took to the stage with a barrage of flashing lights and distorted sounds, alongside an utterly ridiculous crowd reception that has put some headline acts I’ve seen to shame. A great setlist, great energy and outstanding
sound made this one of my favourite sets of the year. After a bit of motivation, the crowd turned into a wave of bodies flying over the barrier almost faster than the security could catch them. I’ve been a fan of Boston Manor since Welcome to the
Neighbourhood released in my university days, and have seen them perform a few times since, both as supports and as headliners, and this was one of the best sets I’ve seen from the band yet. Halo and Foxglove were my personal favourites from the set, but hearing most of Sundiver live even warmed me up to that release as well.
Photography: Dan Stapleton @ Pulse Media Visuals
Boston Manor: Website | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube| Instagram | TikTok
Finally, we had Neck Deep, arguably the biggest Pop-Punk band the UK has ever given birth to. The smaller stage and room capacity compared to my previous times seeing them play made the show feel intimate almost immediately, which helped create the perfect atmosphere for the 10th anniversary of Life’s Not Out To Get You, a pivotal album for many, including myself, which the band played in full. This was, without a doubt, the most energy I’ve seen at the Institute to date, with endless crowd-surfers, pits, and the band’s boundless energy on stage that fans have come to expect. Ben’s vocals really shone throughout the set, and the band’s performances were spot-on from start to finish. There wasn’t a moment when the crowd’s energy didn’t match what was being given to them, and the entire room was singing along with every single track. Towards the end of their set, they pulled out a couple of newer fan favourites too that I felt created this beautiful moment of growth and truly showed how the band have evolved musically in the 10 years since Life’s Not Out to Get You was released.
My personal highlights were The Beach is for Lovers (Not Lonely Losers), Kali Ma, and STFU, but there wasn’t a moment that all those in attendance didn’t love. A truly great show, and I cannot think of a better way to end the year than this.
Photography: Dan Stapleton @ Pulse Media Visuals
FOLLOW NECK DEEP:
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