I have to start off by saying that this was one of the most bazaar concerts that I’ve ever been to. One of the main reasons for this was the fact that in a reasonable sized venue, there were about 15 people in attendance and considering the fact that in the four bands playing tonight there are 16 members in total, this is an alarmingly small crowd. Apparently the reason for this low turnout is due to the fact that the promoter didn’t actually do any work to promote this gig. Another weird thing about tonight was that the gig was held in a Nightclub that used to be a Theatre that was now a gig venue, I was very confused by this stage.
So anyway it was down to the bands to put on a performance to this huge crowd and ‘No Hot Ashes’ came on as the first band and impressed me. They are a young Emo / Post Hardcore kind of band and put on a great performance and with songs like “Heart Attack On My Efforts” they could definitely go far in the future. The next band ‘SecondMonday’ are your average Emo / Screamo band of a Taking Back Sunday vein but didn’t really stand out tonight.
The next band on was suppose to be Not Katies who are the main support for this tour but here’s another bazaar thing that happened, Avoid One Thing have come on and decided to let Not Katies headline tonight. Now I wasn’t sure if this was because the crowd was so tiny and AOT just wanted to get this gig over with or if they just thought that more people appeared to be at gig to see Not Katies but John (Drummer) from Avoid One Thing told me that they wanted to co-headline the whole tour with Not Katies and they were taking it in turns to headline each night. So Avoid One Thing came on and instantly got the crowd more involved, they didn’t seem to mind that there was only 15 of us in the crowd, they just wanted everyone to have a good time. Avoid One Thing’s exciting blend of Power-Punk got heads nodding and feet tapping & songs like “ Chopstick Bridge” & “Armbands & Braids” were the highlights of an exciting set.
Last but by no means least, was the new headliners of the evening, the UK’s premier Pop-Punk band ‘Not Katies’. I’ve seen these guys twice before and each time they have given a tight and full on performance that has got the crowd bouncing along but could they get just 15 people bouncing along tonight. They managed to get the crowd bouncing and dancing along as much as they could with an awesome set which contained some quality new tracks like “Play Dead” & “The Hope You Choke” along with old favourites like “2 Halves Of 2” & “Safe With Me”. Not Katies did the same as Avoid One Thing and gave a full on performance despite the size of, or lack of, the crowd and NK singer Rich Watkin was an animated as ever.
Tonight was definitely different from my normal gig experiences but then again I think that’s what’s made it more memorable. Both Avoid One Thing and Not Katies put on excellent performances and No Hot Ashes also impressed me. The fact that they were all playing in a theatre and to a crowd of 15 didn’t seem to bother any of them, they just all did what they do best.
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