I arrived at The Carling Academy two hours before the doors opened and was amazed to see the queue already stretching along Dale End. MUCC and Story of the Year had signing slots prior to the start of the gig, and their fans were keen to make the most of this. The gig was going to be a long one with five bands on show, all who are top acts in their genre and respective countries and the show was set up in a way that it got heavier through the night with Atreyu as headliners on last which was good as they are capable of playing it heavy as well as light. By the time the room darkened the sell out crowd were in the mood for what promised to be an evening of musical mayhem.


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Story of the Year was arguably the strongest performance of the night. Their clean cut appearance made them more than a little aesthetically pleasing, but their music provoked excellent crowd response. Their new track and single Wake Up was especially popular, the boys raised the feel of the room with their quality musicianship and professional stage presence with the band working the stage well, why! even the “seen it all, been there” bar staff paid extra attention and showed their appreciation with applause. Dan’s vocal talents showed he has a vast range,which he used to the full extant, he was also not afraid to get close to the mass of hands held out to him even though several times he almost had some clothing torn off. The whole band, and notably bass player The Skull worked their rocks off and I have little doubt this performance won them many new fans.

Mel Flavell


Horse the band review & photos
MUCC review & photos
Story of the year review & photos
As I Lay Dying review & photos
Atreyu review & photos