The Amity Affliction // Comeback kid // Alphawolf // Mugshot // Live Review // Leeds Beckett Student Union // Leeds
I feel like we should sit down with artists and ask the important question, “Why do you always tour the UK in winter?” It was a heavily rainy day when I made my way to Leeds. The Amity Affliction have returned to the UK after playing earlier in the year (again, in winter). The “Not Without My Ghosts” Tour, promoting their 2023 album of the same name, kicked off in Germany at the start of December. The band have brought out 3 supports for this tour.
Mugshot is a 4-piece from California, who opened the night with a strong entrance as they introduced their deathcore sound. The vocalist had some great harsh vocals that the guitarist supported. He then told the audience how it was the band’s first time in Leeds, which was met with a cheer.
The barrier was lined with people with their arms up, to show they were feeling the music. The vocalist would constantly interact with the crowd and move about the stage to different sides- like, I don’t think I have one picture where he wasn’t in motion. It’s great to see an opener who fully grasps their role of warming up the crowd and getting them pumped for the night.
Each band member walked to the stage’s edge and ensured they were engaging with the crowd. Due to the stage layout, it was hard to see the drummer, however. The drummer for each band it seems will be on a raised platform. With how high the stage is already, it probably means the drummer will be nigh impossible to see for those near the front.
It’s a bit hard to give an in-depth review as the set felt like it lasted for about 20 minutes. The energy the band brought was a great start to the night and I hope we can see this band do a longer set at some point next year.
Next on was Alphawolf, an Australian 5-piece. I thought these guys were the main support. With how many people knew the words, I was surprised they were slated for a shorter set. The barrier was full of people wearing the merch of the band and screaming the lyrics back, to the point it wouldn’t surprise me if some people were here just for Alphawolf.
The band had a great command over the crowd, even getting the pit to split into two for a wall of death before half the set was over. They also had people get on the shoulders of their mates so the band could see their “pretty faces”. Whatever the band asked, the crowd did. It was honestly great to see a crowd so hyped for the support (and not even the main support at that).
The band seemed to have great banter on stage, between themselves, The guitarist at one point passed his guitar over to the shoulder of the vocalist- making people think the vocalist was about to perform a song on the instrument (spoiler: he didn’t, but he offered a “free guitar in hell” for whoever died in the wall of death first).
The guitarists switched places so many times, I had a hard time keeping track of who I photographed already (as the lights were so low). But, it’s great to have such an active band as these guys just further ignite the fire within the crowd and add to their eagerness to get involved in the pit. It would be an understatement to say Alphawolf weren’t a highlight for everyone.
Comeback Kid came on as the main support tonight. The 5-piece had great energy from the get-go. The guitarists would jump and mosh in their spots and the vocalist would continuously be moving around the stage, interacting with fans in different areas.
The vocalist wasn’t shy about getting close to the crowd. At least a couple of times he would jump down from the stage and go to the barrier, even passing the microphone to the fans fighting over who could reach it. At one point a surfer met the vocalist and the vocalist was fist bumping and handing the mic to them. It’s nice to see a vocalist closing that gap the barrier creates, as it’s such a rare sight for bigger shows nowadays since COVID-19 happened.
The crowd were definitely on board with Comeback Kid, when the vocalist demanded a two-step, numerous people in the pit complied as the vocalist mimicked the action on stage. The first surfers of the night occurred during this band, without even any prompting to do so- they just knew the drill.
It would’ve been great to see more movement on the stage from the guitarists. All the interaction with the crowd hindered the vocalist. With two backing vocalists, both on guitar, I feel those two could have switched places for just one section. The guitarists would jump, but just seeing them mosh with the crowd or interacting would’ve been great. That’s not to say they weren’t entertaining. The band have a strong presence on stage, it’s just something that could add even more to their performance.
The lights at this venue left a lot to be desired. There was hardly any movement in the lights or thought put into any of the support light designs, other than just the generic flashes and some red and blues that felt stagnant. Light plays such a huge part in the overall experience as a fan, if a band has a great light presence then people will notice, fan or not. This isn’t any band’s fault, and with a shortage of light techs who are contracted by the venue, it isn’t surprising a lot of bands (and venues) suffer due to it.
The Amity Affliction came out to a roar from the crowd. The 4-piece presented the crowd with a great stage design that used video projection, adding a visual addition to the stage design. The band also added another platform to the stage, this time at the front where the band could walk along or do the iconic one foot on one foot off as they shredded a guitar.
The harsh vocalist made use of the platform the most. Constantly on it, pacing back and forth. When he wasn’t singing he would be making eye contact with the crowd and nodding his head to the beat. The soft vocalist moved around too, but was limited with the guitar he plays also, that didn’t stop him from moshing and doing some jazzy spins though.
I loved how the band would get into the mood of each song they performed. For the hype opener “Death’s Hard”, the band as a whole was energetic and chaotic. For the more emotional “Drag the Lake”, the harsh vocalist was more moody and stuck around the mic stand, grabbing it with both hands. It guides the crowd with the vibe you put behind each song and matching the energy you bring to the lyrics isn’t something I imagine is easy when you’ve played the same song over and over.
The crowd was hyped. The pit was open without any command going. The surfers were coming in their twos and threes per song. Even the band complimented the audience saying they’d been great, and we were only on about the 5th song in of the 17 song setlist. The band were confidently passing the mic to the crowd, where the crowd would sing almost as loud as the vocalists themselves.
The bands tonight put on a great show, each band had the crowd going and got the energy set right to make a Thursday night better. The Amity Affliction have one more date in the UK for this tour, before heading to Europe to finish off.
Photography & Review : Jayne Slater
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Twitter jsmslater_gigs
