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



click the image for more photos

As I Lay Dying were difficult to see at first due to a mass of swinging hair. Their immediate effect on the audience reflected how popular these spiritual rockers are. There is something unique about their combination of music and stage presence. Charismatic vocalist Tim Lambesis surveys the audience as though he owns the room, and is greeted with oceans of devil claw hands, where the metal heads came from I don't know, because twenty minutes earlier the front of the stage was full 'Story Of The Year Fans', As I Lay Dying produce some serious hardcore metal and their music is punctuated by passionate head banging with the band leading the way, I wondered how they could play while thrashing their heads, but the band were tight and held it all together, the songs that they performed are now old favourites many from the current album 'An Ocean Between Us' which has catapulted the band to metal hardcore super stardom. As I Lay Dying gave a phenomenal performance, and the audiences reaction was gratifying with howls of more.

Review by Mel Flavell
who also interviews As I Lay Dying


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