The Rocksound/Impericon Tour

The words "Rocksound" and "Impericon" should normally strike fear into any sane man’s heart, with the former being some form of Front meets Kerrang crossover (along with its equally deplorable cousin Big Cheese) and the latter being a formerly go to site for all my band merch now just for people to pick up mosh shorts for awkward European bands, but the Rocksound Exposure Tour was destined to be actually quite good.

After turning up just before doors opening and noticing the queue was absolutely massive, I knew it was going to be a very busy gig (mainly due to Your Demise) but regardless of that we soon got into that dreadful place that is Islington Academy.

First up were Basement, who are the perfect example of a band who rule if you’re in the mood for them, and seeing as was in the mood I was not disappointed, they played pretty much all of "I Wish I Could Stay Here" which is cool, but sort of disappointing as I really really wanted to them play Skip Town.

Next up were Man Overboard, the staple 14 year old girl pop-punk band who considering their sort of flaccid performance at Hevy, I wasn't expecting much from, but this time in a slightly less spacious venue, the sound came across clearly and playing a great mix of new and old was very welcomed, and yes I did sing along like a little girl at her first Busted concert.

After the pop punk chapter came the ignorant mosh chapter brought by Baltimore's notorious Trapped Under Ice whose vocalist spent the entire time topless flashing his insanely chiselled body as they played through mainly Big Kiss Goodnight content but also a few songs of older records including "Believe" which made me very happy indeed and seeing people go absolutely mental for them really added to it.

Last up were UKHC's most hated "Your Demise" whose set was later described by a friend of mine as "like having sex with a slut, you know what's happening but you can't enjoy it" which sums it up quite nicely as the sound and vocals were at a perfect mix so it sounded exactly like the record, but having never been a fan of Your Demise I just couldn't get into it, and after spending too much time giving shout-outs to people who have been bad-mouthing them, I slunk to the back and looked at merch till the set was over.

Overall it wasn't a bad tour package, the crowd was fun (minus a few angry girls during YD) and the sound was actually good which is rare for Islington Academy, and I also learnt an important lesson: 2 vodka cokes are £15, so being edge for the night is probably a lot better.

Owen
xoxoxoxo