Neck Deep‘s first UK headline tour was going to be every pop punk lover’s dream. With 3 great supports making sure that everyone had the best time they could throughout the entire night I travelled to Leeds to get my slice of pop punk heaven. Rules like no ‘ selfie sticks’ (thank God) and ‘only allowed to crowd surf twice before being kicked out’ being made clear before we could even enter the venue, you could tell it was going to be a night to remember.
Each set opened up with the Intercontinental Championships Tour music, and Trophy Eyes came all the way from New South Wales, Australia to perform all over the UK. Although Trophy Eyes were the first support they definitely got the crowd going, with a small but loyal following (which didn’t go unnoticed) lead singer, John came up to the barrier a number of times to give the mic to fans. They really showed the crowd what they had to offer.
Seaway were flying the flag for America. As the number of crowd surfers increased so did the energy, they too had s group of people which knew every word to their songs- again this didn’t go unnoticed for the band. Seaway really knew how to entertain the crowd and the definitely kept the energy levels high for the rest of the night.
Knuckle Puck were the third and final support, they came from the USA and knew exactly how to put on a show. You’d expect the crowd to be restless now as Neck Deep have been long awaited but Knuckle Puck definitely seemed to be the favourite support amongst the crowd. There was noticeable more people getting involved and singing lyrics back- and this was the moment in the night when it really started to get intense, the crowd began to get a lot rougher and the number of crowd surfers really increased, this was a slight taster of how the rest of the night was going to pan out.
After hearing the Intercontinental Championships Tour intro for the 4th time, it was finally Neck Deep’s turn to hit the stage. Kicking off at 9.45 with Losing Teeth the crowd went crazy- which was a great start as it’s catchy and upbeat which was guaranteed to get everyone moving. Performing as if they had years and years of experience, the energy from Neck Deep definitely wore off onto the crowd as no one seemed to stop during the entire evening. Continuing the night and keeping the energy levels up they played songs from their 2014 EP, Rain In July/A history of Bad Decisions, including Tables Turned, Kick It and Silver Lining which seemed just as popular amongst the crowd as and of the songs off Wishful Thinking, which can be quite unusual for a band who’s success was majorly down to the popularity of the first album. Before starting A Part of Me (feat. Laura Whiteside) Ben managed to quieten the crowd so he could dedicate it to a fan called Beth who sadly couldn’t be there that night. He proceeded to say, “it’s never ever ever ever ever as bad as you think, there is always always a fucking way out of that shit. Be music, be somebody, anything, but yo, that way out is not always the answer.’’ Which gave the whole room goose bumps, proceeded by everyone singing 10x louder. The chorus was one of them unforgettable moments when the whole crowd was singing back to Ben. Definitely the most moving part of the night.
But they quickly picking up the pace again with Staircase Wit and the crowd surfers were once again back in action. Mosh pits and a circle pit (directed by Fil also increased the intensity and adrenaline within the room.
For the encore they did Candour, which was a really nice simple ending to the night. It would’ve been a shame if they had missed it off the set list so it was an enjoyable, yet unexpected surprise that they finished on such a slow song. It really calmed the crowd but it didn’t stop them from singing as loud as they possibly could.
They’re easily one of the best live bands who are still so humble, it’s definitely one of them bands that whenever I listen to, I’ll be reminded of that night.