First up tonight is Beartooth and they blow the crowd away. Already half full, the venue bursts into enthusiastic moshing before the vocals have even come in. Without any prompting, the crowd are moving along with the band screaming, chanting, jumping to “Beaten in Lips“. “This is for the kids with the beaten in lips”, rips through the crowd as Beartooth asserts their dominance over the enthralled young’uns.
A long pause ensues “In Between” before thrashing into “I have a Problem“, which brings with it the first circle pit of the night. A few missing shoes later, the crowd disperses to focus all their energy of the band for the final tune of their set; “Body Bag“. The venue capacity sing the majority of the song louder than the band, showing that Beartooth has a large following in Ireland. With immense choruses and an original metalcore sound, Beartooth would be welcomed back to Dublin with open arms. 5/5
Next is Bury Tomorrow who are a lot more lively performers from across the channel in Southampton. These are friends of headliners Don Broco and bring a fresh metal crunch that the crowd cannot get enough of. Starting with “Man on Fire” it is evident that bassist Davyd has run into some problems with his gear. He is plagued with this for the majority of the performance, but it does not stop him having fun and singing to the crowd. The band moves between fast heavy riffs and slower breakdowns that it almost mimics a heartbeat and feels natural for the crowd to move to. Lead guitarist Kristan sings to the audience with the odd finger point and scissor jump.
The sheer energy from the band fuels the youths onwards into “Of Glory“, where the Academy crowd is at its best; the ebb and flow emulating what is happening in the song with driving rhythm guitars, a killer double bass beat and intricate guitar/vocal dialogues. Bury Tomorrow finishes with “Lionheart“. The last notes ring out as Dani crowd surfs out into the sweaty main floor and is swarmed on by a mish mash of ecstatic kids . This band played Academy only a few months ago to promote their new album “Runes”, and it would seem that they have not been forgotten, as the chants for “one more” ring loud and strong throughout the venue. 4/5
As we creep towards tonight’s headlining slot, we are treated to We Are The In Crowd, who bring a more subtle radio friendly pop punk pace in which the crowd lap up as they catch their breath from the hectic opening performances. With their pop-punk roots WATIC band keep the crowd going with their catchy hits like “The Best Thing, Manners, Exits, Entrances and “Kiss Me Again“.
Keeping the energy on a consistent level throughout their performance, WATIC are an entertaining and very tight act and worth catching, especially for the antics of bassist Mike and lead guitarist Cameron jumping around in true Blink 182 style. They are fun and interact with the audience consistently with singer Taylor shaking hands with the crowd throughout.
They close their set with “Rumor Mill” with Taylor inciting panic among security as she stand’s on the crash barrier to sing into the crowd, hi fiving fans and waving to those at the back. The band leaves drummer Rob on stage to mess with the crowd and film close ups of fans as the stage is cleared for the main attraction. 4/5
Don Broco runs onstage with fervour, bursting into new track “Money Power Fame“. The stage has been stripped of the extra equipment, leaving ample space for these young pups to give a frenzied performance. The crowd are wide awake now belting out “Yeah Man” and jumping in unison with the band. Bassist Doyle smiles contently to the crowd through the show with Simon and Rob running circles around each other to interact with the audience during “Actors“. Next up is “Fire” that causes a unified floor bending reaction from the Academy’s capacity. This continues until “Fancy Dress” where Rob exclaims “This is fun, innit” before he asks the crowd to spread out so no one to gets hurt, a mosh pit follows.
By the time the band performs “Super Love” both the audience and band are exhausted with Tom and Simon clashing on stage while running around. Don Broco finish their set with “Priorities” and “You Wanna Know“. The last time this band played Ireland was two years and ten months ago as support for Kerrang! wonder kids You Me at Six and judging by tonight’s crowd reaction it would seem that they will be most welcome back in the future. 3/5
Setlists
Beartooth
1. Beaten in Lips
2 Dead
3. The Lines
4. In Between
5. I Have a Problem.
6. Body Bag
Bury Tomorrow
1. Man on Fire
2. Garden of Thorns
3. Of Glory
4. Watcher
5. An Honourable Reign
6. Lionheart
We are The In Crowd
1. The Best Thing (That Ever Happened)
2. Manners
3. Never Be What You Want
4. Dreaming Out Loud
5. Exits and Entrances
6. Reflections
7. Come Back Home
8. Lights Out
9. The Worst Thing About Me
10. Kiss Me A
11. Both Sides of the Story
12. Rumor Mill
Don Broco
1. Money Power Fame
2. Yeah Man
3. Actors
4. Fire
5. Automatic
6. Whole Truth
7. Fancy Dress
8. Beautiful Morning
9. Thug Workout
10. Hold On
11. Super Love
12. Priorities
13. You Wanna Know
Words – Karyn Corrigan
Photography – Steve Dempsey, Down The Barrel Photography © 2015
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