Gig Review : The Amity Affliction

On a very cold 11^th December, I set off to the O2 Academy in Birmingham, primarily to see one of my favourite up and coming bands of the year– The Amity Affliction. I was looking forward to this gig from the very moment that I first heard that the band were returning to the UK, off the back of their tour in 2009 with We Are The Ocean. They were there alongside Miss May I, with both bands supporting the headlining act Asking Alexandria. The gig was sold out so I was expecting a good atmosphere and I was hopeful that the crowd would really get behind The Amity Affliction so they realise just how fantastic they are.

The Amity Affliction were first to take the stage and they gave the crowd no time to stand still as they burst into my favourite song, I Hate Hartley. The song has a tranquil start which lulled the crowd into a false sense of bliss, only for this to be broken 15 seconds later by the strong roar of Joel Birch’s vocals. The band showed great energy and started the set as they meant to go on. The song I Hate Hartley is taken from their latest album Youngbloods which is an absolute cracker of an album, there is not one song that I skip and I would definitely recommend a listen.

Joel then introduced the band and they kicked off with their second song Snitches Get Stitches which is an older track, taken from their previous album Severed Ties. It seemed to me that a large percentage of the crowd were not acquainted with The Amity Affliction and this was apparent as people were not getting as excited as I would have expected. However, there was a group of guys at the front who were more than making up for the rest of the crowd. They knew every word, got invovled and really made the band feel welcome.

The band continued on through their set playing another of my favourites Stairway To Hell and Youngbloods with Joel occasionally jumping into the crowd and getting everybody moving. A huge circle pit, instigated by the band, emerged during Youngbloods and I think people were beginning to see that The Amity Affliction are a real rare talent.

They ended the set with Anchors which Joel had told me was his favourite song and what a great end it was. I felt my heart sink when they said their goodbyes and left the stage as I realised I most likely won’t be seeing this band again for a while as they are busy touring Europe and Australia. I hope they return soon for a headline tour and a longer set as I am sure they will have made a lot of fans from their appearance on this tour. There is literally nothing to dislike about them, their music is brilliant and the members are down to earth, easy going guys.

After The Amity set finished, Miss May I were the next band to take to the stage. I had not listened to any of this band’s material and so I was interested to see what they sounded like. The crowd went crazy as the long haired rockers took to the stage and I was expecting great things. Maybe I am getting too old for loud music, or maybe I was still in awe of The Amity Affliction but I couldn’t get in to Miss May I. The crowd seemed to completely disagree with me and it appeared that most people had in fact come specifically to see this band, with almost everyone singing along to all of the words.

I personally think The Amity Affliction get the balance of Joel Birch’s screaming and Ahren Stringer’s beautiful, clean vocals just right. Miss May I’s sound was mostly hardcore with screaming and even though they gave a strong performance, I don’t think they compared to The Amity Affliction, but that is just my opinion. I hope the band has won over even more fans from this tour and that they will be returning to the UK very soon!

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Writen by Gena Hollyoake

Posted on Tue 8th February 2011 and filed under Gigs, Reviews.

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