On The Open Road - Photo by Luke Mcgowan Photography
Starting off the night in a frantic, loud fashion, High Tides put on a powerful and entertaining performance. Playing to a respectable but enthusiastic crowd, the band thrashed and yelled their way into a top notch performance. The whole set felt unpolished, but in a beautiful way, with jokes being made about the “small stage but I’m massive” and random interruptions of “Do you like pizza?” (the resounding answer being: yes, obviously).
The real star of the show was the drummer, whose vest and tight shorts seemed more suited for for an 80’s exercise video than a rock gig. However, he certainly worked up a hell of a sweat with some superb drumming. Credit to the drummer, who was just, to be frank, bloody awesome.
The second set comes in the form of Coast to Coast, the self proclaimed "sad sods with dad bods" from Birmingham. Two very keen fans get the crowd going by joining the band onstage, screaming the lyrics back to the boys. A humorous moment comes in the form a single lighter waved in the air, but even that doesn’t deflect from the strong vocal of the band.
“This is a slow one now: goes out to Jack’s mum” say the band before beginning a passionate, if vocally weak performance. Next up is a well received cover of Blink 182’s Dammit which starts a mosh that I awkwardly try to slide past because I have the strength of a newborn. The lead singer rejects the stage and jumps down onto the floor, starting a bouncy show despite having had “four cheeseburgers before he came on”. An impressive feat by any standard.
Ocean Floor have a female guitarist, a bit of a relief after two all male bands. Well done, Ocean Floor, you’re already in my feminist good books. They start their set with a cover before screaming “Notttttingham what the fuck are we doing tonight”; well, I don’t know about them but I’m four Red Stripes in and loving this performance.
It’s very pop-punk and while there wasn’t much to differentiate with the previous three bands, they put on a stellar performance which the crowd loved. The best track by far is one dedicated to “long lost friends”; it’s a slowy and hands over the reigns to the female vocalist. It’s a passionate and emotional performance I could listen to time and time again.
Next up is a cover by Lower than Atlantis (This band’s influences are made explicitly clear) which goes down a banger. They play their new song Stargazer, a wonderfully loud metal headbanger which receives a hugely positive response. They say this is the biggest gig they’ve played, but I’m sure we’ll see them cropping up around some more Nottingham venues sometime soon.
Unbeknownst to me, I had already met the lead singer of Babe Punch five minute prior to their set after doing the incredibly girly and embarrassing thing of complimenting her hair. This led to me becoming a rather awkward fangirl throughout the gig – which to be fair was incredible.
The girls launched straight into the set with a loud and strong vocal before moving on to a punchier, punkier track. Although there were some mild tech issues the band were unapologetically spectacular. A personal highlight was their cover of Hole’s Violet which is already an incredibly powerful song, but watching this band perform it with such power and venom was spectacular to witness. They really encompassed the message of the song and it was beautifully performed. Dare I even say, that I preferred it.
The stars of the night, On The Open Road, failed to disappoint with an exceptionally strong opening. A nice example of how to get the crowd head banging 101.
Their passion and excitement was evident as they rolled out songs from their new EP to a more than enthusiastic crowd. In fact, the crowd were absolutely loving it. The lead singer connected with them as though they were family members and they were really lapping it up and it was beautiful to behold.
After an exceptional performance, the band finished with a, good, solid finale with expert drumming and a beautiful bit of guitar. The crowd seemed devastated to see it end. On the Open Road seem to already have a pretty strong fan base but after that performance, I’m sure to see it grow from strength to strength. They are definitely a band to watch out for.
On The Open Road EP Launch with support from Babe Punch, Ocean Floor, Coast To Coast and High Tides took place at Rescue Rooms on Friday 26 February 2016.
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