Initially slotted for Manchester Academy 2, upgrading to Academy 1 and selling it out is no easy feat. This cements A Day To Remember’s journey into mainstream rock and stepping into the role of headliners, a far cry from their days of playing support just five months ago with Bring Me The Horizon.
The five-piece from Florida excel in finding great hard rock/metal talent, enlisting Architects and Your Demise to join their UK tour.
Architects do a fantastic job of getting the crowd moving and are in their element playing venues of this size. They’ve never been on my radar before today, but thanks to their rip-roaring performance they’ll definitely be on our hot list.
Opening with one of their heavier songs Fast Forward To 2012 ADTR spur on the throng of moshers and show off the brutality and severity of their sound.
Playing songs from For Those Who Have Heart and newest album Homesick tonight’s set was aimed at the newer fans. However the older fans were not left completely stranded: as they unleashed the riproaring classic You Should Have Killed Me When You Had The Chance.
ADTR’s catalogue of songs span pop punk to metal and tonight’s set was heavily biased towards the metal side of things.
But leaving out acoustic numbers You Had Me At Hello and If It Means A Lot To You was a bad move, and showed a lack of musical range and creativity. The crowd didn’t get to see the softer side to A Day to Remember, though their cover of The Fray’s Over My Head (Cable Car) did give new fans a taste of a more downbeat song.
Highlight of the night I’m Made Of Wax Larry, What Are You Made Of? (my personal favourite) was simply brilliant live.
Set closer The Plot To Bomb the Panhandle had all the crowd singing along to perhaps their most well-known tune. To top it off cannons of confetti were fired to end the set with a bang, in just the same explosive fashion as they began.