The Beat Surrender

I feel like I’ve been wait for ever to see this band live again, I was lucky enough to catch them supporting Kasabian last March at Sheffield Arena, for me they outshone Kasabian on the night, Rob Harvey owned that stage.

I was keen to see how different they would sound in a small intimate venue. Intimate is the right word for The Roadhouse, I don’t know how many it holds, I’d guess there were more in than its capacity. By the time the band came on stage it was heaving. I’m not sure of the floor layout but not only couldn’t I see the stage I couldn’t even see the tops of the bands heads. I know I’m a bit short but usually I do get to at least a few heads. Good job its not a visual show, its the music and how they sound.

The fans seemed to be mainly guys (another reason I couldn’t see perhaps, why is it guys at rock gigs tend to be all over six foot?) Quickly realised that this could mean lots of beer throwing etc, and yes I was right lots of beer did get thrown luckily for me I was squashed up against a pillar which offered some protection from this and the mini Mosh pits.

Support was from a band called Clockwork who I am sorry to say I can’t really say much about, they didn’t introduce themselves all that well, didn’t introduce any of the tracks they played (or at least if they did it was so quietly I missed it) Overall the music was ok, loud repetitive drum beats, a bit punk but ultimately a bit forgettable.

Both bands were strangely introduced by John Kennedy from XFM, his introduction was a bit panto for me, can’t see the point of being asked to shout out for a band then told to shout a bit louder, all totally unnecessary. However he was “spinning the discs” which meant a few rock tracks were being played while we waited for the bands to come on and he had three young girls with him who seemed to be there to get chatted up or were chatting up guys. I didn’t see one of them approach a girl all night!

The Music’s set list was a mix of new and old, bringing together the best from their first album The Music and second album Welcome To The North and a selection of tracks which will be on the new album due out very soon.

Opening track was The Spike which is a new track, it seemed to go down well, I personally loved it, really got everyone bouncing. Next was Take The Long Road And Walk It taken from The Music released in 2002, its not that many bands that can get away with playing a track which is around six years old and it still sounds a fresh as it did back then, well appreciated. Get Through It was another new track, while not so much singing along, it still seemed to be appreciated.

One of my personal favourites next, Freedom Fighters’s taken from Welcome To The North released in 2004. Next was my favourite amongst the new tracks Strength In Numbers, I don’t think the style has changed dramatically over the three albums but this stands out as a good track for me. Next up The Truth Has No Words. Then was another new track The Left Side another strong number. The track which seemed to go down really well around me was The People.

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