I don’t know what you guys did for Thanksgiving, but I spent it with You Me At Six.
Chris, Dan, Josh, Matt, and Max.
Anyone who has ever met me knows that I love YMAS. I have mentioned them numerous times on this blog because they are one of my favourite things on the face of the planet. And by “things”, I mean “group of 5 British men”.
This time (my seventh time seeing them), was a little bit different, mainly because I insisted on spending the extra money to get meet & greet. Yes, I have met them before (at least twice each), but this m&g also promised an acoustic session and I’m not one to turn down an exclusive performance!
It was also extra special because we were originally supposed to see YMAS in May until Josh (the singer) was forced on vocal rest and I had to wait FIVE EXTRA MONTHS to show them my VI tattoo.
It’s a little blurry, but yay acoustic!
For the acoustic set, they played the three singles of their latest album, this year’s Cavalier Youth: “Lived a Lie”, “Fresh Start Fever”, and – my personal favourite song of the album – “Room to Breathe”. I didn’t think any of these songs would sound good as acoustic arrangements – they’re very jumping-hardcore-and-punching-the-air-like, but surprisingly, they worked. Even “Fresh Start Fever”, which is not my favourite YMAS song.
The verses are Fall Out Boy, but the chorus is awkwardly Jem and the Holograms.
Then we stood in a very long line (for the second, but regrettably not the last, time) to get a photo taken with the guys plus get a photo signed. I insisted on showing all five of them my tattoo and they all seemed to appreciate the extra dedication (or so I like to think).
Swag from the m&g.The VIP pass is holographic!
After being made to stand in line AGAIN (outside this time), we were finally let into the venue (for real).
Stars in Stereo opened. I meant to listen to them before the show, but I kept forgetting that they were on my player. Nevertheless, I really enjoyed them! I’m not usually a fan of female singers – something I’ve been trying to work on in the past year – but I quite liked this girl whose name I can’t remember right now. Their drummer was also insane in the best way possible – he had a ridiculous amount of energy and was clearly very talented.
Next up was Young Guns. I actually listened to them a few days ago and decided that they sounded like a combination of Mallory Knox and Deaf Havana (this is a compliment). I knew going in that I would enjoy them, but after their set last night, they can definitely count me as a fan. For one, their singer’s name is Gustav and I think that’s amazing; but they were also really energetic and loud and just absurdly catchy.
Finally the moment I’d been waiting for: You Me At Six. I don’t think I can even review them again because I’m pretty sure I used all my good words when I saw them last October. In fact, I believe I told Ro last night that my review was just going to consist of adjectives.
*ahem* SUPER! AWESOME! AMAZING! FANTASTIC! INCREDIBLE! BREATH-TAKING! WONDERFUL! OTHER WORDS THAT BASICALLY MEAN “GREAT”.
As The Maine once said, they were “everything I asked for…and just a little bit more”.
I was sweaty and breathless by the second song (in my defence, it was “Underdog”, and if you scream “UNDERDOG” as loud as I do, you’d be breathless too). And I’m pretty sure my heart stopped somewhere the magnificent part of the set where they played “Room to Breathe”, “Cold Night”, “Reckless” (aka MY MOST FAVOURITE SONG EVER), and “Bite My Tongue” in a row. I am proud to say, however, that, sometime during the last six YMAS shows, I’ve perfected the art of taking off my glasses during the screamy part (the Oli Sykes part) of “Bite My Tongue” and putting them back on again before the “F*CK YOU” part without sending them flying across the room. So there’s that.
bellsiebooks 