Along my way through the streets of Nottingham, I can see the migration of the emo teens and grown-up emo teens making their way to the same location. After being directed to different areas by security, I finally made my way into the arena to see the one and only Pierce the Veil during their first date in the UK promoting their latest album, “The Jaws of Life”.
Holding Absence are the first of the bands on tonight. I’m always excited to see Holding Absence. The band put on great shows and this is my first time seeing them in such a big venue. As the band took to the stage, it became apparent it was a big day for them too. The vocalist shouts out how it’s their first time playing in an arena.
Holding Absence is one of the British bands I have such high hopes for. The singer has such great energy when it comes to crowd interaction and just being on the stage. Managing to get three circle pits going already, it’s obvious there are a substantial amount of fans here. If you know Holding Absence, you’ll know the vocalist has the iconic kicks that he does throughout the set. You missed that shot of him doing it? Don’t worry, he’s got more in him. The guitarists would offer a helping hand when it came to getting the crowd clapping, but it would’ve been great to see them have just half the energy the vocalist has to make that stage feel fuller.
“A Crooked Melody” is always a highlight for me to hear live. The chorus always goes so hard, and the crowd can get involved with clapping to the beat. The song does a great job of showing off the musicality of the band. The change in drum rhythm, the melody itself, the riffs and of course those gritty vocals. Hearing how far the band has come since forming 10 years ago is always a heartwarming thing. The vocalist brings up how they started with himself uploading a cover of “King For a Day”. A nice little full-circle moment for the band.
The next band up was Dayseeker. The American 4-piece is most known for its “sadcore”. The lyrics are hard-hitting and the vocals are so raw that you just get gut-punched. The vocalist describes their music, for those who don’t know them, as the band people listen to when they’re “sad and alone”. Seeing a band who describe themselves like this, in an arena of hundreds singing the lyrics back to them feels kind of bittersweet.
The crowd seemed a bit dead for Dayseeker. Granted the songs are a bit more heavy-hearted, but it seemed the only people who were moving were fans. You could see hands held up throughout the pit of fans stuck within the crushed bodies, but not near enough to get the pits going. Luckily for the crowd who were new, the vocalist made sure to introduce most of the songs. The song “Without Me” goes down a particular treat, allowing the audience to sway their arms to the chorus.
A great moment of their set was the vocalist of Holding Absence coming to join the singer of Dayseeker on stage for an acoustic rendition of “Starving to be Empty”, yet to be released. The songs of Dayseeker have such a catchy melody it’s hard not to move to them. They are a really promising metalcore band to break through the cracks. The band performs so well live, the melodies especially so moving. My only wish would be to have more movement from the guitarists. With a stage this big, it just needs to feel fuller for me to be captivating. If I didn’t already like Dayseeker, I’d have probably just been stuck silently vibing.
Just before their last song, some commotion happened in the crowd. The vocalist was then directing security to the incidents, of which there were two. No one left the pit that I could see, so whether there was a fight, people fainting or just people trying to get to the front – who knows.
Pierce the Veil comes on to the immense scream from the barrier below. With a purely backlit first song, the band gets into their 1.5-hour set spanning an immense 15 songs. Pierce the Veil is a band that was a part of many now-adult’s teenage years. It’s amazing to see them playing an arena now, something the vocalist commented on saying that “today was a special day for [them], playing a venue this big in the UK.” The nerves must’ve been real for the band, with the singer also commenting on how his heart was beating fast after the first 3 songs.
Though the singer is limited to how much he can move around, the guitarists took a lot of the responsibility to hype up the crowd for themselves. Both would be making use of the platform and jumping around and making poses, sometimes even pointing to members of the crowd below. It’s great to see bands put so much effort into breaking that barrier, when on such a big stage. When the singer had time to spare away from the mic, he would be jumping on and off the platform and even addressing the seated sides of the arena with a point and open arms.
Pit circles had formed by the second song of the night. I could count at least two. The crowd was going HARD for Pierce the Veil. I can only imagine what a gig for this band was like back in 2016 when they were at venues like Rock City with a 2k cap. The audience was especially going hard for the heavier songs like “Pass the Nirvana“, which led to a lot of security watching like hawks over the barrier for any surfers.
Pierce the Veil was and always will be a staple for many people in alternative music. The crowd was full of people spanning ages and that’ll always be the case. The Jaws of Life tour will continue in the UK until mid-April. The band then had a busy summer touring with Blink-182 in America. Let’s not forget the two supports either- Dayseeker have a busy year with a live performance at least once every month up until the end of summer and Holding Absence will be doing many festival appearances throughout the year and then touring with Sleeping with Sirens at the end of the summer.
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