SEVERAL weeks ago, when describing my top 10 Welsh bands I mentioned one of my all time favourites ever, The Blackout. I wrote about how they were soon to play Wrexham’s Central Station in the “School’s Out For Summer” gig and how excited I was.
So when Sunday, July 19, finally arrived, I was ecstatic, to say the least.
The event, which started at 1pm, was jammed packed with 15 up-and-coming bands, and even though they were all superb, I’d like to focus on just the one – The Blackout.
Now before I write about how out-of-this-world their set was, I have to mention meeting them. Half way through the day, to escape the intensity of the heat, myself and a friend walked outside only to find, to my over-excited delight, The Blackout were talking to several fans, so in a matter of minutes, it was me acting a little more than star struck as I talked, if you could call it that, to them.
With pictures taken, all I had to do was wait six hours until the Merthyr Tydfil musicians hit the small stage.
So, several bands later, and a painfully long 50-minute sound check between the last band “William Control” saw The Blackout bounce onstage at 9.20pm to the screams of hundreds of young fans.
They opened with “STFUppercut” which always sends a crowd crazy. I’ve always said that The Blackout were one of the best live bands around, and tonight was no exception.
For the 65 minutes that they played every single person in the small Central Station venue was completely lost in their music, and witty remarks, whether it was the soaring solos of “Top Of The World” or the flirtatious flamboyancy of “I Know You Are, But What Am I?” the sextet’s energy was infectious.
The whole event which was being filmed for a special DVD of the day to be sold in aid of charity – which wasn’t to one of the lead singers, Sean Smith’s liking, due to his slight slip on stage which ended up with him singing the rest of the song in perfect tune on the stage floor as, he casually leaned against the barrier, which penned more than 200 teenagers from attacking the stage.
However, if anyone asks, he didn’t slip, he did an impressive ninja front flip, all planned of course.
As the night drew to a close, with incidents such as Sean launching himself into the crowd, and commenting on how thankful he was that the Wrexham crowd hadn’t stolen any of his personal items because the previous night at “Guildfest” a crowd member had tried to steal his rather retro watch, the tunes got steadily faster and the audience grew hungrier for more.
The penultimate song “Save Our Selves” held the stage trick of the night, and as the song was just reaching its peak, the crowd were asked to kneel on the floor, not what you usually get at a gig, but then again, The Blackout aren’t any old band.
As the song fully kicked in again, Sean Smith and Gavin Butler, told the whole audience to jump up in unison, sparking mosh pits and yet more screams and jumping around.
The Blackout clearly seemed happy with Wrexham’s effort in the stunt and the night ended on a memorable high with an ending song “I’m A Riot!”
I love The Blackout for their energy, their enthusiasm but mostly I adore them for their live performance, and how it will always be far better than you could ever imagine.
* To contact Bronagh, email mark.lingard@countytimes.co.uk and your email/information will be passed on to her.