
The Great Hall, Cardiff University Students Union
Sat 11 Feb
words: JIM SWIDENBANK photos: RICHARD DAVIES
The Kerrang! tour juggernaut rolled into Cardiff on Saturday night bringing with it the usual array of talent from both sides of the Atlantic spanning the varying genres of rock music for the enjoyment of the city’s student and emo population. The evening on the whole could be summed up in a solitary word; loud. Kerrang! had turned the dial all of the way up to 11 for this one, something visibly evident when watching bottles of beer dance their way unaccompanied across the bar of the Great Hall before plummeting to the ground like little plastic alcohol filled lemmings.
The angry metalcore of British act While She Sleeps kicked off the proceedings, tearing through a short, sharp set which certainly seemed to stir the slowly expanding crowd into life – albeit with questionable sound levels – and they were closely followed by Los Angeles’ own Letlive. “I really like Wales, so thank you for having us!” declares frontman Jason Butler after they had torn through their opening number, before going on to burn through an energetic and aggressive set which was only let down some more questionable sound mixing; presumably the ability to induce tinnitus in each paying punter was of more importance to the organisers than affording either of these opening acts a crisp sound.

Then came The Blackout. When Sum 41 pulled out of the Kerrang! tour in January the organisers hastily added these Welsh post-hardcore rockers to the bill following a successful appearance on the 2010 outing. There’s no accounting for how well received they have been on the other dates this time around but, in Cardiff at least, it was certainly their night. “Good evening Cardiff!” vocalist Sean Smith screams as they bounce on stage, before cheekily adding “we are Sum 41!” After opening with a spirited I’m A Riot… they launch into a well worked cover of Sum 41’s Fat Lip, much to the ironic delight of the crowd who offer up rapturous applause, something which also follows each song The Blackout pump out – and boy, are they on form tonight.
They lash out a set littered with melodic and harmonious choruses interspliced with crunching guitars and hectic percussion, whilst quite clearly having the time of their lives. There are those who might be disappointed at watching them, as opposed to Sum 41, but this is their night in front of their more-or-less hometown fans, and putting a foot wrong was simply not on the menu. Exciting, energetic and exhilarating, The Blackout firmly placed their stamp on the evening leaving the main headliners the unenviable task of picking up where they had left off.
So the only question that remained of the evening was whether New Found Glory could match the energy, fun and veracity of their Welsh counterparts. To surmise, they fell short of the mark. Despite being extremely polished and tight, whilst commanding an extremely receptive crowd right from the off, they unfortunately lacked the nervous energy and enthusiasm of The Blackout. NFG are much more methodical in their performance and it just makes them seem a little more stoic and short of imagination – not that the pogoing mob in front of the stage seemed to care. They’re good fun, but contrasting the sets of the two headliners is like comparing Nickelback to Nirvana; NFG just seem rather unoriginal and unimaginative when compared to the raw excitement and passion of The Blackout. They throw in a cover of the Ramones’ Blitzkrieg Bop and a high-tempo Kiss Me, but even these can’t detract from the gnawing feeling that they’re merely going through the motions.
Despite an enjoyable, if predictable, closing set one thing remained clear: the night belonged to The Blackout. It was their night. They were always going to look forward to the hometown show and that shone through on a top evening overall. Tinnitus aside, of course.