Northlane did exactly this. A raw, high-octane performance, joined by some equally ferocious supports, together they whipped the packed venue into a moshing, crowd-surfing frenzy.
The first order of the night was Thornhill for a short, heated set. Playing killer tunes like ‘Temperer’ and ‘Limbo’, they inspired a couple of frantic moshers to thrash around while everyone filtered in the doors. It was a taste of what was to come, and an exciting one at that.
But it wasn’t until Sworn In took the stage, with a stream of gruelling vocals and frenetic sounds, that the now-assembled crowd truly started to fire-up. A rough mosh started to form, people ran for the barrier, heads turned. The freshly-released ‘Don’t Look At Me’ kicked everyone into high gear and lead vocalist Tyler Dennen got the crowd involved throughout the entire set. It was at this point that everyone started to buzz, and rightfully so. The night became a solid experience, and it sure as hell hadn’t ended yet.
ERRA, the final and arguably most solid supporting act, turned what was previously an excited crowd into an absolute fervour, performing with an experienced intensity and sound that sent shirts and shoes soaring above the heads of everyone present. Roaring tunes like ‘Skyline’, ‘Drift’ and ‘Luminescence’ served as the jewels in ERRA’s crowning set, one that switched effortlessly between clean and dirty vocals, never skipped a beat and was met with a wall of applause and whistles as it sadly drew to a close. But they told us to wait for Northlane, and the venue remembered why they were there. If the supports were this good, then the headliner was definitely going to rip the house apart or go down trying.
Darkness covered the venue. The crowd reacted with a deafening, unanimous roar of approval and applause when the lights slammed back on, Northlane jumping straight into the first notes of ‘Colourwave’, and shook the rafters above. Bringing their trademarked sound of heavy, intense riffs and melodies, reinforced by vocalist Marcus Bridge’s duality of excellent cleans and awesome screams, Northlane delivered everything the crowd had been anticipating, and then some. All-time favourite ‘Quantum Flux’ had the crowd sing loudly as one, Mesmer favourites such as ‘Citizen’, ‘Solar’ and ‘Paragon’ transformed the pit into an ever-evolving bedlam of moshing and jumping, and band-favourite ‘Rot’ moved the entire room like they were possessed, stacking on more energy to an already wall-shaking performance. Nobody cared about anything else while they played; the world outside of the venue had been forgotten in favour of whatever treats Northlane decided to serve up.
The end result, after the lights came back on and the final wave of approval surged from the crowd? Ringing ears, buzzes of approval and strained vocal cords. And that was the way everyone liked it.
Highlight: Belting out the lyrics to ‘Quantum Flux’ like the world would end tomorrow.
Lowlight: Spilling beer everywhere because you’re too stunned to realise that there’s a step just under your foot.
Crowd Favourite: ‘Rot’ and ‘Quantum Flux’.
