A free download of the single “State Of Possession”, taken from the debut album Speak Through the White Noise is available on soundcloud or you can listen below:
State Of Possession by The New Regime

Video:

Only 22 years old, Rubin has been involved in the music industry for most of his life, picking up the drums at 8, and in quick succession mastering the guitar, bass and piano. Armed with a veritable musical arsenal, Rubin was content to cut his teeth playing drums in numerous outfits, including stints drumming for Welsh rock act Lostprophets and industrial rock pioneers Nine Inch Nails, which he credits working with a musician, Trent Reznor, whose precision and discipline complemented his own. “When I joined the band, I finally felt like, ‘Yes, this is the kind of organization I want to be a part of.’ A lot of work, and a lot of making everything perfect,” Rubin says of the experience.

Currently on tour in the States with Taking Back Sunday and Thursday, The New Regime is spearheading a new musical revolution, which is heading for UK shores in August 2011.

Catch THE NEW REGIME supporting TAKING BACK SUNDAY on the following dates:

21.08.11 Dublin Academy
23.08.11 Glasgow ABC
24.08.11 Manchester Academy
29.08.11 Bath Pavillion
30.08.11 Norwich UEA
01.09.11 Birmingham Institute
02.09.11 Southampton Guildhall
London date to be announced.

www.thenewregime.com
www.facebook.com/thenewregime

When ‘The Head and the Heart’ first start playing the gang of six come across as though they have jumped aboard the ‘Mumford and Sons’ band waggon. If you went paying attention it would of been far too easy to put this band in the folk waste bin. If you were playing attention to this band however, then you would pick up that they felt like folk, but with a more spirited sound courtesy of the three A grade vocalists in the group. The vocals where the core part of every song with each vocalist being given an opportunity to showcase their talents. In particular the female vocalist ‘Charity Thielen’ had large vocals that soared throughout the room and she shared a warming story about how she lived near Manchester a few years back and how she busked for a month singing folk songs. It was a pleasant, genuine touch to the band’s set.

In terms of the set itself the opening and closing songs were excellent.  The middle part of the set washed over me rather too quickly for my liking. Instruments felt like filler and added nothing to the stellar vocal range already mentioned. With a few more songs this band could not only fit into its folk genre but excel within it. in its current form ‘The Head and the Heart’ are quite simply good singers but sadly that will only get you so far.

Rating: 5 out of 10 stars

Thinking about  Death Cab on the way to the venue this evening, seeing them playing live for the first time they don’t strike me as a must see live act.  Maybe I’m too used to bands being all glitzy in their approach, or front men who talk much and shove every cliché down my throat. This bands unique kind of  timid shyness is something I would expect from a support act who are just happy to be playing in front of a sizable crowd and who don’t want to rock the boat by engaging with the audience. It was surprising to see a band with 15 years in the music game being so unengaging, only one story about supporting the Foo Fighters and how thankful they were that the crowd didn’t throw bottles of piss at them for not being the Foos.

Still despite any lack of anticotes what the band have instead are songs that feed off emotion, weather that’s the edgy, darker emotions found on album ‘Narrow Stairs’ or the isolation and feeling of lonliness  found on the album ‘Transatlanticism’ Ben Gibbard and co both vocally and instrumentally have found a way into our heart and minds and have not let go since 2003.

In contrast to this though were tonights opening numbers as Death Cab opted to go for tracks form their lesser known work such as 2000′s ‘We Have the Facts and We’re Voted Yes’ and 2001 ‘Photograph’. It’s a bold but fruitless move as the crowd were simply dead for the opening part of the set only clapping for the end of each song, hoping the next song they would play would be one they would actually enjoy! Surprisingly it’s ‘Grapevine Fires’ that woke the crowd up and got them in full voice and from there on out Death Cab took a firm grip on the crowd!

The most memorable part of tonight’s proceedings were the gentle powerhouses of ‘Summer Skin’ and ‘I Will Follow You Into the Dark’ that showed off ‘Ben Gibbard’ excellent vocals and made sure that noone would leave with dry eyes this evening. Following that was the 8 and a half minute ‘I Will Process Your Heart’ which never builds to a crescendo it seems to promise as the song goes along, but still leaves you satisfied and the live version in a joy to watch.

The most recent  release, this year’s ‘Codes and Keys’ was well represented in the song line-up and did not disappoint with ‘The Tourist’ and ‘Doors Unlocked and Open’ bringing a change of sound for the band, but at its core its still bonafide Death Cab and garners approval from existing fans as well as helping to make new ones too.  Another new song that was played very well live was title track ‘Codes and Keys’ which had the violin parts played through keyboard effects and gave the impression of the instrument playing live, and was better than having this instrument played out via recording.

This set was littered with quiet times from the crowd who were the most disjointed aspect of the evening as they were mainly quiet and even when the crowd got involved with some of the songs it still wasn’t enough with even the hardcore group at the front lacking movement. Although a good crowd can make a set better by creating a atmosphere I can’t aim my blame  towards Death Cab tonight as they played for nearly two hours knocking out 25 songs!

The band opted to end tonight  with the highly charged ‘Transatlanticism’ which sums up what Death Cab are about, intense, layered emotion that you just can’t help shouting out simple lyrics such as “COME ON” “COME ON” and wishing that the person you love most was at your side while you nod your head with every sharp hit of the drum from ‘Jason McGerr’. This is the reason why Death Cab are one of the best bands of our time and tonight they proved it playing with their heart on their sleeves at all times.

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars
SET

1. The New Year

2. Why You’d Want To Live Here

3. Crooked Teeth

4. Photobooth

5. Company Calls

6. Doors Unlocked and Open

7. Long Division

8. Grapevine Fires

9. Codes and Keys

10. Summer Skin

11. I Will Follow You Into the Dark

12. I Will Possess Your Heart

13. You Are a Tourist

14. Underneath the Sycamore

15. President of What?

16. Title and Registration

17. A Movie Script Ending

18. Soul Meets Body

19. Some Boys

20. Cath…

21. The Sound of Settling

22. Stay Young, Go Dancing

23. Styrofoam Plates

24. Marching Bands Of Manhattan

25. Transatlanticism

Taking to the stage for the penultimate slot of the Atticus stage here at Slam Dunk North, Mayday Parade have nothing to prove to the already established crowd assembled in the small Stylus nightclub at Leeds University. The room in itself is filled with a varied plethora of fans; safe in the knowledge that they are about to witness something special. Initial hysteria sets in; the panic of teenage girls as they battle to get a closer look at these fast-rising stars, settling only as the band claim their rightful place near the top of this impressive bill.

Launching into old favourite “Jamie All Over”, well deserved screams explode into the atmosphere, complimented by almost every mouth moving in unison, singing back the words to the five-piece. “Please don’t tell me that I’m dreaming/When all I ever wanted was to dream another sunset with you” – the band begs this in their emotive lyrics, and more than a few young faces seem to display this same feeling as they realize the enormity of what they are witnessing.

The band clearly has a talent that perfectly captures the ‘beginning of summer’ feeling that is so prominent at Slam Dunk, kicking off the festival season. If you came to drink, dance, and have a good time with your friends, their opening number makes it plain to see that you came to the right place.

Although playing songs from each album, the band seem to return mostly to their second album, “A Lesson in Romantics” with both the opening and closing numbers being gems from this record. “Jersey” is played out to an addicted crowd, each person almost clawing for the band to stay and play for them some more, yet sadly finishing up the incredible night, at least for now.

Eight songs just aren’t enough as vocalist Derek Sanders commands the audience, each and every member of it inspired to call out desperately for more. Upon close reflection, it is easy to see Sanders swell with a pride that is shared with each and every one of his band mates. Undeniably, Mayday Parade are an aesthetically pleasing band, but each beautiful and captivating song in the set stands out on its own merits, and it is the lyrics of each that sets these five guys aside from many other mediocre bands of their genre. Each musician flawless; each note perfect, this is a band that knows not only how to put on a good show, but also a show that the audience will remember.

It’s easy to forget just how many years this band have been relentlessly touring, because up until recently, it seemed that they were not getting the credit they deserved. But with storming sets such as tonight’s in addition to insane crowd reactions, it is only a matter of time before Mayday Parade become one of the leaders of their scene, if they are not already well on their way to becoming so. They say not to tell someone what you wish for, because it just may not come true, but to wish Mayday Parade onto bigger things seems inevitable, regardless of who knows. There is no need for caution here. After all, the more who catch onto this band’s infectious sound, the more likely they are to catapult themselves into true fame. More likely than not, next time, this band will claim a deserved headline slot.

We probably could have gone on longer but we realised time was getting on and we hadn’t taken a single photo or performance! Exit stage left and rush off upstairs for the end of the starting lines set.

At the end of this set is where your crowdsurfer team splits up, Liam heading off to photograph Mayday Parade and me sticking around for the ska fest that is Less Than Jake followed by Reel Big Fish.

LTJ kicking ass and getting everyone bouncing (with a set containing fan favourite all my best friends are metalheads, as well as some epic covers in the form of animaniacs, spongebob sqaurepants and scooby doo) before the briefest of breaks while reel big fish, who where spectating and singing along for most of less than jake’s set enter.

The band who I’d stupidly asked the question, ‘how do you find the time to balance touring with writing new stuff’ and had replied with with ‘easy man, we don’t write new stuff’ reminded me of this very quickly into their set when they proudly proclaimed, ‘as you know, Reel big fish have a great habit of making big hits… Out of other people’s fucking songs’ as well as repeatedly reminding us whenever they where going to play a song they actually wrote as if it was a novelty!

The set itself covered all the fan favourites, from opening up with ‘Trendy’ and ‘Everything sucks’ cramming in arguably their biggest hit ‘sell out’ at the very end of the set followed by cover ‘take on me’ for the encore. However none of these made this reviewers night more than three very special memories made that night. The first coming after the band had played ‘your guts’ when the band did something you can only really see at festival’s, they brought out ‘The $kint$’ member Marcia Richards, for ‘she has a girlfriend now’ a task she took to like a fish to water, and something tells me it’s not the first time she’d fulfilled this role.

It’s worth noting that I’d earlier asked the band if this song was based on a true story, to which they’d typically joked, ‘of course not, it’d be a better song if it was’, but there were no doubts in mind after this redition that this is one of their strongest songs and a massive fan favourite. Second highlight of the set has to be the surprise addition of Goldfinger guitarist Charlie Paulson to the line up for ‘Beer’, again something you mostly get to see at festivals, but managing to help add his own slant to an already brilliant song and reaffirming it as one of my favourite Reel big fish songs if nothing else.

My final, and favourite memory from the set and perhaps even the whole festival has to be the bands showcase of versatility and masterful crowd interaction when they played ‘suburban rhythm’ 5, yes, count it five times, each time playing it in a different style, from just straight up album version, to country and western with a line dance going on, heavy metal with encouraging some head banging, and my personal favourite speeded up to 3 times it’s usual speed and I quote ‘the biggest circle pit Leeds has ever seen’.

In conclusion, reel big fish managed to take an hour of everyones life, and with charisma, a few friends, an epic sense of humour and some pretty kick ass songs, etch memories that will last a long long time. A fitting end to a long day for many.

For those of you who haven’t read my first review, or not heard of the band, they are a four piece comprising of Ali Horn – Lead Vocals/Guitar, Louis Bransgrove – Lead Guitar/Backing vocals, Ellis Bo Fellis – Bass/ Backing Vocals and Tom Grant – Drums/ Backing vocals.

My first reaction when I got the venue was ‘Your having a launch party for an Indie band in a tea room?’ I was worried, the venue seemed small, and just not up to the task. I needn’t worry, I went upstairs, to a vast room where the band were rehearsing, the room could easily accommodate a few hundred invited guests and potential fans, which is lucky really, as this basically what we ended up with. There we’re a couple of warm acts, but of no consequence, as we were all there for one reason, the headline act.

They didn’t disappoint on the night, and put on a good show for the meagre £3 entry fee, that also came with a copy of the EP.

The EP itself contains 8 songs, the last 3 being demo tracks, and we’ll start at the top, it opens with ‘Keep Swimming’ a great opening bass line and a sound reminiscent of the Libertines, the chilling style to vocals in the opening track are not going to win any lyrical genius awards, but what they do, is they allow you to focus much more on the guitar, drum and bass work on show, which is very strong on this opening track and help to set the bar.

Next up, is one of the stand out tracks from my first review back in October, ‘Michael’ which at the time I cited, doesn’t sound like the finished article, goes a lot of the way towards becoming it into in this latest offering. Everything just feels more together, I don’t know what attributes this change, whether it’s a change to the way the band play the song, or just that the band have grown into it the more they have played together, but either way, this would go a long way to winning over many many fans.

The next track on the EP is ‘Naivety and Optimism’ which although not to be written off musically, does not showcase the band as well as others, it again has a cracking tune to it, and runs from beginning to end in an absorbing fashion, but fails to build on the ground work set by the opening two tracks and more importantly by ‘Michael’ . This is a bit of a malaise shared with 4th track, ‘Life and death’ which like it’s predecessor, is fine, but just wouldn’t make it to a potential singles list.

This is broken by the fifth and final track on my review list ‘Ready to fall’ a quick change in lead vocals for this track see’s lead guitarist Louis step into the front man slot, and his voice excels, the lyrics are apt, and almost like the soundtrack to modern Britain, dealing with the youth of today and the recession in a jovial yet way yet with a serious undertone. Whilst the song is musically brilliant, managing to keep you interested all the way through.

My overall impression of this band, and of the EP are hardly what I’d call precise, I really like the band, they bring together the best bits of their peers, in a genre filled with big names, like Morrissey and the Libertines, whilst still managing to remain original, they evoke emotion whilst allowing you to take a backwards step from the music. A CD that everyone should listen to at least once, and one I’m going to be actively recommending to people who ask me about my current favourite music.  Links to the side will let you buy this EP from iTunes or Amazon, but failing that, download Spotify and do your best, really, it’s worth your effort.

The chemistry between the band borederd on fraternal and you could tell the band felt totally at home which each other. Their set started shortly after 9 and comprised of roughly 18 songs. But the highlight of the set, at least for myself was when they played out a cover of Kansas’ ‘Carry on my wayward son’ complete with an epic solo from the excellent Ian Crawford. This was a surprise addition to the set as before the gig we’d manage to swipe at look at the set list, The surprise was truly appreciated by myself and a lot of the older members of the audience (I say older, I mean, I’m 24, but I probably still had a good decade on at least 80% of the crowd).

‘Carry on my wayward son was one of 3 cover songs (Michael Jackons ‘Billie Jean’ and The Smiths track ‘Panic’) that interspersed an epic setlist encompassing crowd favourites such as the 2008 single 9 in the afternoon and I write sins and not tragedies. Managing to fully endear everyone to the new album (Vices & Virtues) with some truly brilliant versions of first Single ‘The Ballad of Mona Lisa’, Hurricane and Let’s Kill Tonight.

All in all a true nights entertainment that kept the crowd crowd moving from start to finish, whether it be from the epic music, the obvious bond between the band members, or just the fact that every now and then charismatic frontman Brandon Urie threw a quick ‘we love you Manchester’ or other banter at the crowd keeping everyone on their toes.

Click here to see our full image gallery for this show.

The Devil Wears Prada open with a brutal and energetic sound comprising of semi technical riffs and brutal blows. The Devil Wears Prada are a band known to many yet i believe through the energetic set played here today they will of gained many more followers. Despite a brilliant showing the sound was not brilliant for them due to no fault of their own. The band was impressive but I was personally disappointed when they did not play my favourite track “dogs can grow beards all over” other than these two criticisms the band was fantastic tonight!

With the crowd fully ready for Architects they start to chant the bands name over and over, the band now enter the stage as the crowd roar, The band comes on and provides a set with a difference a technical yet melodic set sounding as close to the recorded tracks as humanly possible the band play a short and professional set playing many newer tracks including hollow grave.

Architects have come on strides since their early years and have become a professional outfit able to give a sound able to fill a venue as large as the Apollo. Architects leave the stage and set the level high for the next band, Parkway drive.

Parkway Drive are a band from Australia who broke into the UK a few years ago. They are used to playing large shows in Manchester after headlining the “Never say die tour”. The band open up with a fan favourite of “Romance is dead” this takes the show to a new level which is maintained for the remainder of the evening.  There is a notable shift in the atmosphere at this point with much more movement in the crowd. Circle pits starting left and right coupled with giant mosh pits the crowd looks like an army of ants all moving as one. The crowd were definitely getting into this set beyond anything I have seen in a long time! with several songs to go the band unleash brutal breakdowns and savage riffs with the bar set so high Bring Me The Horizon will have to perform amazingly to beat this performance.

Having to following Parkway Drives performance was Bring Me The Horizon. The lights go out and the crowd eagerly await the headlining act. With such an impressive crowd for a band of their age BMTH have sold out the entire building here in Manchester. The entire building seems like it is going to explode as the band kick starts what seems to be an unstoppable machine! I once read  a quote that said “BMTH- The Dahlia Murder should be crapping themselves” and my lord with what I am seeing on stage it should be “Iron Maiden” rather than TBDM! An impressive light show massive stage setting and impressive stage presence BMTH are no where near the peak of their career they really are the modern day fathers of metal, playing hits such as “Chelsea smile”, “suicide season” and the all new “fuck”.

Crowd reactions were beyond anything I ever expected. A band I have seen progress since they were 15 years old they are an incredible credit to themselves and British metal. All in all an incredible shows thanks to all involved.

Last October I took the time to review a band who in my opinion have a significant future ahead of them. (http://www.crowdsurfer.net/2010/10/post-romantics/)

I’m posting today to notify all that the band will be releasing their first EP at a launch party this Sunday at Leaf, Bold street, Liverpool. All are welcome, and the EP will be on sale on the day or afterwards on iTunes/Spotify. See you all there!