Up-Load UK, Gigs News & reviews Silverstein Review

I must be absolutely out of my mind! I was so close to the start of the queue at Silverstein I could almost smell the band, but when I got to the door the Garage demanded proof of ID and an over 18 year old. You could say that is a fair policy, but you would be blatantly lying. What about all the people who bought their tickets on the door? The people who hadn't seen their tickets till they got there? So ANNOYING!

BUT WAIT! I did see Silverstein. Despite Highbury Garage's attempts to get rid of yours truly, I came back in time to catch them from the very end of the first song. Apparently I had missed Fist Wrapped In Blood, but I'm sure I didn't because I remember the mass singalong. They did the whole "Hello (Insert town name here)" thing, but it was so sweet. Going purely by other people's opinions, Ghost Of A Thousand were not as good as usual. They are a great band though, and they played excellently back at This Is Menace in December. Lost Alone were apparently very good. Have a listen to their new single - Blood Is Sharp - it's really quite good and suprisingly un-emo for the name!

It wouldn't be a Silverstein gig without a vast amount of emoing. There is a very clear division in the crowd: the people who know and love Silverstein; the people who came just for the show anyway; and the people who came for 'scene points' or whatever. Happy to call myself a silverstein lover; I shoved my way towards the front of the room, where people were packed tight and generally going bonkers. Behind us was a jolly big mosh pit full of people who came for just that. Behind them was a mix of scene kids and emos who don't want to mess their hair up.

SIlverstein's set combines lots of their fab new material from current album Discovering The Waterfront, a few less frequently played songs, and only a couple from When Broken Is Easily Fixed. I don't think they even played Smashed Into Pieces, which was a great disappointment, that might just be my memory failing. The Silverstein fans down the front were some of the best you'll find. There were amazingly awesome singalongs to the part in Fist Wrapped In Blood which goes "My teeth are yours to pull out, and my bones are yours to shatter in pieces". The new stuff gets an amazing reception, but it would be true to say Silverstein weren't vastly heard of in the UK until songs like Smile In Your Sleep infected the ears of the young via many Victory Records samplers (absolute genius I tell you: keep them coming!).

Their live performance is incredibly energetic, and really tight. Lead singer Shane Told makes sure the crowd stay involved, but their performance is so captivating it's hardly necessary. I liked the light show too, when all the lights behind them come on and make the room as bright as daylight virtually. There's not much banter, but hey, I came here to rock, not to chat. They do a big build up to title track and single Discovering The Waterfront. They save Smile In Your Sleep for the "last" song, just to work the crowd up; because we all know if we scream "Silverstein" loud enough they'll come back and play more. I think they played Already Dead in the encore, which completely brought the place down like My Heroine did earlier. In fact, I wish I remembered the whole setlist because every song was as brilliantly performed as the next. Consistently smashing. No letdown.

One of the many lovely things about Silverstein is that they come out after the show to chat to the fans, sign autographs etc. They just walk out into the main room with everyone else, not hiding behind a table or a desk. I got 4 members out of five to sign my ticket :D

P.S. shout out to my dad for driving me all the way back to the gig. He's as bonkers as I am!