The crowd anxiously await the band, the lights go out a classical piece starts the beginning of the show, the band start with an intense song which results in the crowd instantly parting.
semi technical riffs with layers upon layers of fast yet melodic sounds with vocals close to that of Silverstien and midterm Underoath this band are a dead cert for the future,
fans sing along without prompt and resulting in a lasting impression to look out for this band in the future. I can honestly state that I believe this band will go far.
Crowd responses result in that of a circle pit and hardcore style dancing with the occasional crowd surfer,

Of Mice and Men

Unfortunately due to vehicle problems in the form of a broken head casket on their van the band was unable to reach the UK on their tour apologies was sent on behalf of the band from both bless the fall and august burns red.

August Burns Red

the lights go out, with a very different intro of “everybody scream”(trance version) the band gets the crowd instantly moving, hands in the air and jumping around,
as the intro fades the bands dive into their first song in the form of composure (a popular single) the crowd instantly reacts to the powerful chugs and technical riffs and mind blowing break downs provided by this maturing yet fresh sounding technical metalcore band.
with vocals similar to Tim from As I Lay Dying, the August burns red front man Jake has both charisma and confidence close to arrogance on stage controlling the crowd without the need of a word, with a powerful and aggressive set the band plough though 11 songs,
including all fan favourites the band exit the stage with the crowd cheering for more, the drummer -re-enters the stage with a technical yet impressive drum solo lasting approx 2 mins, the rest of the band then enter the stage and blast into one last song leaving a happy yet worn out crowd.
over all i can honestly say after the crowd creating possibly the biggest circle pit I’ve ever seen in the Manchester academy 3 and crowd surfers by the dozen the band are close to being best in their feild and are definitely here the duration.

Overall minus the disappointment to fans with the absence of the band “Of Mice and Men” the crowd left with a smile on their face from both “blessed the fall” and “August Burns Red”

I would like to add on a personal note that august burns red are both friendly and inviting people who deserve to go far with their careers.

You have two more shows left to play. Have you enjoyed your time in the UK?

Yes it’s been really awesome. The crowds have been amazing. Honestly it’s been really high energy. The majority of the crowd are singing along with us which is super cool. Not just the kids in the front but the whole room has been singing which has blown me away. Even with the new songs that just came out they are singing every one of em’ which is cool.

You’re playing Leeds festival here in the UK and the Vans warped tour back home. Speaking of festivals what 3 headline acts would you have?

Can I bring people back from the dead?

One person…

That wont work then, I was gonna bring the Beatles but that’s stupid…I wish we were going to Liverpool… ok, Radiohead just because I’m a big nut for them. Oh, I don’t know. Just them. They can play 3 sets, how about that? They have enough songs.

On playing festivals, does the size of the stage your on make you perform differently?

Not consciously. I think we always try and come out and just do what we do. If its like a tiny club though where everyone’s right there in your face singing along with you then its definitely a different energy to when your playing a festival and the barricade has people pushed 25 feet away. We always try and have the same energy but it looks different if you’re on a giant stage outdoors somewhere.

You have played large arena stages yourself as an opening act. Do you try harder when you are supporting someone else?
Sometimes you have to because you are playing for people who don’t know who you are and you have to win people over. You want to be on their brain when they leave the show so sometimes you do have to work a little harder.

This tour co-insides with the release of your new album “My Dinosaur Life” produced by Mark Hoppus. Who called who there?
It all worked out for the best in the end. Initially we had talked about working with him but Blink were busy. Then our drummer Tony broke his arm and that affected our schedule which meant he could work with us after all.

I read that you said you wanted to make a “darker, rock record” this time. Do you think you managed it?
Yeah, in a couple of spots. We didn’t necessarily set out to make a darker record but some of the songs ended up that way. We just wanted to be a little more aggressive, raw and less polished.

This record is your first release on Columbia records despite being signed to them since 06…
Yeah we signed this deal before our last record on Epitaph was released. We knew that we were finishing our contract so we signed with Columbia to secure our future. So far the transition has been so smooth you wouldn’t even notice. The girl who signed us to Columbia has been a fan of us and a friend of ours since we signed to epitaph back in early 03. She was actually trying to sign us then to a major but we knew we were not ready, we were too young and didn’t know anything about the business. We didn’t want to end up on a major label and get lost and have people boss us around. We decided to sign to an indie and work a little harder. I think that helped us. It created a mutual respect situation where Columbia knew we are not idiots, green to everything. We always talk about any artistic decisions. Sometimes they have ideas that really impress us.

Staying with your new album the artwork was done by Joe Ledbetter. How did you come to work with him?
We are huge fans of his work. We collect his prints and his toys. Tony got in touch with him on twitter and Jesse had gotten in touch with his manager a while back. She said he was a fan of our band so that gave us the idea to do something like a t shirt. It was Jesse who read “my dinosaur life” from a demo Justin had written and he thought it would be cool with Joe’s illustration because he does a lot of animal based work.

Your latest single is “her words destroyed my planet”. Why was that chosen as the lead single?
That’s a great question. Honestly, that song came in very late. We were already recording when Justin brought that to us. It took us by surprise. I thought it was a good song but it wasn’t my choice for the first single. I’d have gone with “Life less ordinary”.

The video has some pretty impressive dance moves. Will we see any of that tonight?
Absolutely not! They had to make a LOT of edits to make that look like we were actually any good.

Talking about tonight, will there be a mix of old and new songs on offer?

It’s a pretty good mix. The more songs you get its harder and harder to make a set list. It’s hard to get away from songs you really like. Some songs work together energy wise but sometimes you need to put a breather in there that’s not going to put people to sleep. We have a template where we substitute songs in certain spots. You usually find a good opener and a good closer and stick with it.

If you could make one song a fan favourite that isn’t currently what would it be?
I don’t know…I feel like “Delirium” would be my choice.

Back in December you played 3 nights where you played one album in its entirety each night. Which night was your favourite?
I am the movie. The first night. I really felt like it was 8 years ago and it transported me back. Those were the only songs we had back then and we were playing them almost every night. I could picture us then in those tiny clubs with 30 people watching us and it was really nostalgic. Plus the fans were really into it which is always good.

As well as making and playing your music for a living you also have to do press. Do you have stock answers that you always use?
Sometimes there’s only one way to answer a certain question. I’d rather not have stock answers but I’m not as quick as Justin who can just make stuff up for a week straight.

Do you respond well to “wacky” interview questions?
There are so many interviews out there so if it’s about business most of the answers are already out there. If someone wants to ask fun questions from time to time that’s fine. I understand the idea is to promote your band but hopefully someone would have a fun time asking crazy questions and go away saying “oh I met that guy, he was cool”.

What is the most frequent topics that come up in interviews?
Either regarding Justin’s hair or what was it like working with Mark (Hoppus). “What is your craziest tour story?” is another and I never have an answer for that one. We are pretty not crazy for the most part. After 8 years things blend together, specific instances fade.

What do people never ask about?

Let’s talk about you now. If you could start a rumour about someone what would it be?
That I can bench press an entire lorry. I just wanted to say “lorry”. We don’t call them that back in the states. Some people say “tractor trailers” for some reason. I don’t get it myself.

Last question we ask everyone is who should we be listening to just now or in the near future?
I’ve just come back from Australia. I was in a comic store and heard something pretty cool. It was Liam Finn. Son of the Finn brothers / crowded house. I bought his newest album. There’s a band called “the week that was” that was also playing in the store. I’m excited about the new MGMT record. I want to listen to that with headphones so I can really hear it. I’m a big Phoenix fan too!

That’s it. Thanks Matt!

Step forward 28 year old singer-songwriter Jenny Owens Young all the way from New Jersey. Taking to the stage first tonight with a full band including Motion Members Matt and Josh, she gave the impression of a much harder rock sound, when in fact her live sound was very stripped down much like on her records.

For newcomers to Jenny this evening may have disappointed them finding that rock is not her natural sound. Equally, for people who knew Jenny’s music to see her on stage might have been a disappointment with the more edgy almost country sounding tones on show tonight.

One cannot doubt her singing voice which is immaculate and when combined with her quirkiness on stage there is a warming appeal. She may have been more engaging if she was on her own tonight, with the full band sound lost on the smaller academy crowd.

Rating: 5 out of 10 stars

On next was Free Energy were the lead singer just came from painting the ceiling and the guitarist just came fresh from woodstock. What can i say about Free Energy? They made it easy to dislike them with their lazy rock that didnt suit the theme of the evening well.

They didnt mesh with the other bands on the bill (maybe supprting Jet would be more their thing). There 70′s laden rock didnt throw up many high points and some of guitarists Geoff Bucknams solos did a great job of going off on a pointless tangent.

Having only been together since 07 and boasting just one album to date you maybe can excuse free energys performance here. As I say perhaps a different crowd would have responded more lovingly but as it stood, my friends’s game of solitare did a better job of getting my attention than this Philadelphia 5 peice did.

Rating: 2 out of 10 stars

Now for the main event of the evening – Motion City Soundtrack. Starting off with old crowd favourites ‘The Fututre Freaks Me Out’ and ‘My Faviourite Acident’ taken from their debut album 2003′s “I Am the Movie”. Mass hysteria soon filled the academy, you could feel a wave of excitment and Motion do a pretty good of maintaining it during the course of their set.

With their back catalogue consisting of four studio albums, nine singles, seven extended plays (three split, one digital, one live) there was no shortage of material tonight. The music of old was subtley merged with new tracks from the bands latest release “My Dinosaur Life”.

Tonight was mostly focused on the music with little banter coming from stage other than to proclaim tonights show was “the best of the tour”. The crowd didnt seem to mind the lack of conversation though as they ate up every song that was thrown their way.

The downside would be this was a standard performance it wasn’t able to distinguish itself in any way. It did enough to make it an enjoyable performance and evening but there was no one “wow” moment I will take away from the night.

Still well worth seeing, Im not sure when they will be back on UK soil other than they are set to play the Leeds festival this year so if you go along to that make sure you catch these boys!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars

Cobra Starship playing Manchester.

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Family Force 5 supporting Cobra Starship in Manchester.