On a cold horrible February night in Birmingham, New Yorkers We Are The In Crowd bought the warmth and fun with them. Kicking off the gig was Neck Deep [8/10] playing their first ever Birmingham show. With a setlist that mixed songs from their previous EPs with their new album really stole the show. Playing to crowd that weren’t too aware they are, songs such as ‘Crushing Grief’ and ‘Tables Turns’ went down a storm. Due to poor sound quality in the venue, the songs lacked some of the punch they have on record however ending with an incredible rendition of ‘A Part of Me’ really topped off a great set in a venue that wouldn’t be surprising if they were headlining in the next couple of years.
Ben Barlow from Neck Deep
Next up were Welsh pop punkers Save Your Breath [6/10] that weren’t anything special really. They had their little pocket of fans in the crowd however didn’t really do much to persuade anyone that they are worth checking out. The only highlight of the set was ‘Nothing Worth Having Comes Easy’ which is a great song but it was a case of too little too late. It was easy to spot the vast majority of the crowd were there for the headliners We Are The In Crowd [7/10]. Kicking the set off with new single ‘The Best Thing (That Never Happened)’ and an impressive stage presence was really good however the set struggled due to the lack of a quality back catalogue of songs release. The new songs went down well however without the new album, The Weird Kids, being released yet meant that the songs lacked some of the crowd interaction that happened during songs of Best Intentions. One highlight of the set was a beautiful acoustic version of ‘For The Win’. However due to frontwoman, Taylor Jardine, suffering from sickness caused limited vocal range and her voice lacking the same energy that she usually brings. Closing the set with ‘Rumour Mill’ caused a mass sing along and lots of smiles all around the venue. With the success of Paramore, it would not be surprising to see We Are The In Crowd graduating into the main room on their next tour.
Taylor Jardine from We Are The In Crowd
Words by Sam Taylor and Pictures by Jimmie Daly
