Birmingham last night saw the stage graced by St Louis Quintet Story of the Year. Supported by Anaemic and Merthy Tydfills finest, The Blackout.

Academy 2 was filled to capacity, the crowd packed in like sardines in a can, the heat in there was unbearably hot and sweaty, numerous bottles of water and pints of lager thrown in the air, not out of bravardo, but to cool everyone off!



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I’ve seen The Blackout on numerous occasions supporting Lost Prophets at Wolverhampton Civic and at The Full Ponty 2007.
They have such a stage presence and are so full of boundless energy it’s astounding, lots of Red Bull required, as in this case it did give them wings.
Jumping around the stage like they had springs attached to their feet, Zebedee from Magic Roundabout had nothing on these guys, Even the speakers took a battering through the set and various members of the crowd ended up with headaches after being jumped on by Gavin, he lost his shirt in the process, even singing bare chested at one point, which excited all the young pubescent girls in the audience...
Warbling songs from their debut album ’We are Dynamite ’and whipping the crowd up into a near frenzy for a full 30 min set.

The crowd were ready for Story of the Year’s onslaught.


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They graced the stage for an enthralling 90 min set which showcased songs from their new album ‘The Black Swan’, this is the bands third studio album and undeniably their finest.

The set list consisted of:

Hero
Falling Down
Anti-Lope
Wake Up
Our time is now
Meathead
Take me Back
Tell Me
Stereo
Choose Your fate
Shadows
UTDID


The temperature in the venue rose to boiling point, band members again looked like they’d been attached to bungee cords with their boundless energy and constant pogoing, egging the crowd on at every single opportunity to join in and jump up and down, felt like a mini earthquake at times!! I was gonna run for cover at one point.

The crowd seemed to linger on every single lyric mouthed by lead vocalist Dan Marsala, sang with such passion and va, va voom, even prompting the crowd with his mic and getting them to sing into it with such ardour and heart.

Story of the Year’s reputation goes before them having supported big guns My Chemical Romance, Linkin Park and The Used, as well as being on the bill of the Vans ‘Warped Tour’. It won’t be long before they end up headlining bigger shows themselves, especially after what I experienced this evening. Such an energetic band, and a must for any rock fan to see and savour.

Review & photos by Michelle Owen

Video of Story Of The Year single 'Wake Up'