I have to admit, I was really impressed by this gig, because I’d had my doubts about going. Firstly, because I had a balcony ticket and I’d never been seated at a gig before… I don’t understand why anyone would want to sit down for a gig… being crushed and sweating your face off is all part of the fun. The other main reason I was wary is because I’m not a massive fan of the pop-punk angle. I do really like ADTR when they’re at their heaviest though and I’d heard such good things about them live, it was worth a shot.

Unfortunately, we missed most of the opening band due to the massive queues getting in. I’d heard good things about Pierce The Veil, but I can’t really judge them on a song on a half, but they seem a promising addition to the scene. The crowd loved it, especially when you consider that this was the opening band it was an impressive response. Then went absolutely mental when ADTR front man Jeremy joined them onstage for a brief spell and the energy level was kicked up a notch from then onwards.

They were followed by a punk rock foursome Bayside from New York and what surprised me from the moment they walked onstage was that you could distinctly hear boos among the roaring cheers. I’m not particularly sure why, and this were undeserved as the guys played a tight exciting set. I’ve got to say, they were not my cup of tea, but even so I enjoyed their performance. They were nowhere near as heavy as the other two, sticking more to a punk-rock sound but with some killer vocals and drumming. I loved how happy the members looked, clearly loving the atmosphere and really giving it their all.

After what felt like a really short set, curtains were pulled across and the crowd waited eagerly for the main act. At this point, it was even weirder sitting in the balcony because it felt like I was at the theatre or something, seriously strange experience. The guitars kicked in and the room exploded with “2nd Sucks” and the room seemed to go absolutely insane. What was utterly extraordinary with A Day To Remember, was definitely the crowd. I have never seen such an amazing response to a band before, from the opening seconds of their set, everyone was going absolutely mental. Jealously looking on from my seat, I watched a sea of tightly packed bodies thrashing about and screaming with an astounding level of passion. Even Jeremy commented on the amazing response from the crowd, asking them to make sure to keep the energy up throughout, which they pretty much did. The set was great, the instruments in particular sounded seriously tight, particularly on the chugging riffs of “Sticks and Bricks” and ‘A Shot in the Dark’ which sounded awesome. The screamed vocals sounded wonderfully powerful, but the amount of delay on Jeremy’s vocals made it harder to hear the more melodic tunes. A highlight of the show was the inclusion of an acoustic rendition of “If It Means A Lot to You”, with simply flawless vocals, and it broke the set up very nicely. When the band walked offstage, the entire room began to chant the intro to ‘The Downfall of Us All’, increasing in volume, until they re-appeared and blasted into a faster version of the song.

I reckon these guys are definitely worth going to see, I was really impressed even from the balcony and watching a band I’m not always in the mood to listen to. They deserved the sell-out show and the fantastic crowd.