Live: Paramore & YouMeAtSix

Paramore

Well, I have to begin by saying this : Hayley, why were you blonde? A friend summed it up when she said, "Whats the point of her if her hair isnt orange?" Lets face it, shes set up a whole new look for female scene and emo teens across the globe, on the back that she can rock out with what seems to be a head thats on fire. The men in the crowd wanted her, the girls wanted to be her, simple as that. I couldnt get over the passion from a lot of the crowd, it was like this Christian band were their Messiah! The twilight film, to be fair, has given these a lot of publicity and built a fan base on the back of the song "Decode" from their most modern album, "Brand New Eyes". It wasn't long ago that these young Pop-Rockers were going absolutely nuts inside the Barfly, in Cardiff. Goes to show what a little film can do for you. I was probably the only one in the room who hadnt seen Twilight of course.

Back to the most important issue for me, the hair. Was this a statement that she is growing up, that she doesnt need to stand out so much now that she has millions of screaming fans wait for her wherever she travels? I think so. She wasnt saying, "look at me, look at me, I AM Paramore," instead saying, im part of something big that wouldnt have happened if it wasnt for my band. The band, shadowed by her cult following were amazing live. The guitarists backflipping over each other, the drummer throwning sticks everywhere, incredible, such a clean sound too even on the heavily distorted songs.

Paramores set was as expected set around the new album, but not so much that you'd get sick of not knowing the words. The mainly took tracks off their biggest album amongst old fans, "RIOT!" The well balenced set gave us all the classics, performed precisly and energetically and the slow songs that made the couples in the room hold each other.

Live Rating: 7.5/10

                        

YouMeAtSix

They were never going to steal the show, nearly everyone was there to see Paramore. So I was expecting... open with a hit, jam pack with new album material, close with a hit, go home. Wrong, sir, very wrong. They played 2 songs only from their new album, only one of those were unreleased. The rest of the set was chocked full of hits. You can tell that the abdn enjoys performing because of the sheer sweaty effort that each individual puts in. In my opinion, I thought they were just as good as Paramore. In the last song "Always Attract", Hayley Williams, singer of paramore came on stage to a reception of shouting and screaming that couldve only been match for sound by an aeroplane taking off or sat in a car when the immobiliser album goes off! She made the song special and was probably the pick of the performance. I would love to see these again on their own as i think the atmosphere would be tight with excited rage and furore

Heres a clip of the opening song, "Kiss & Tell". Enjoy

Live Rating: 7.5/10

Live: Attack!Attack!

Before their small venue tour with fellow Welsh pop/punk princes Kids In Glass Houses, they won the ultimate publicity prize, a spot on the new world famous Guitar Hero game. Their song "You and Me" will be heard by button bashers and wannabe rock stars from Newcastle to New Zealand! So I wondered, what the fuss is all about? In the minute venue of Blackwood Miners Institute, on November 5th 2009, Attack!Attack! roared onto the stage all guns blazing. The opening song "Home Again", off Their self-titled album, was fitting with the light hearted opening and an invite to the crowd to start taking notice, with the lyrics "Lets get this whole thing started". The upbeat set hosted some amazing songs that managed to transform the floor into a frenzy. Obviously, Their action packed album openers were always going to make the crowd jump about, but nobody expected the guitar and bass drum heavy chorus of "Say it to me" to create such a stir. If you didn't want to be in the moshpit then you better run to the edges of the music arena because the hysterical circle pits spread like a virus covering the majority of the dance floor! The sweat-ridden crowd begged and pleaded for more but they were only a support act for Kids In Glass Houses, whom i thought were found wanting in getting the audience going. Then it clicked. It isn't that KIGH aren't good at this, i mean everyone was singing along and jumping around, its that Attack!Attack! made a connection with the audience that can make a performance not just good but excellent! I could see in the eyes of the other band members that had


come to support their local lads. Sean Smith of the Blackout was leaning casually against the sound desk at the back of the room, trying so hard that nobody noticed him, that it was impossible to ignore him. When Attack!Attack! came on i saw twitches of the foot and caveman like look of aggression in his eyes that faded after the performance ended.



A band that you may want to listen to on Myspace or Spotify before going to see, its not everyone's cup of tea and as they are a small band at the moment, its nice to get to know a few songs you can sing along to. However if you do find yourself tapping your foot along to the songs. Go and have look at them, before they make it big. I recommend to drink plenty of water before you go to one of their gigs because you will be dehydrated from all the moshing. And you WILL be forced to mosh. If you enjoy an action packed, hard rocking set and fall out boy style songs then you will be addicted to this band very quickly!



Live rating : 7/10



By Dai Wells