Take Me Back: Tonight Alive (27/11/14)

After the release of one of my favourite albums of last year - and perhaps ever - I was eager for Tonight Alive to do a headline tour here on the other side of the world to their homeland. Never one to disappoint they put together the Live On The Other Side tour and also played Reading & Leeds. Their R&L fest debut was made on the main stage where their punk aesthetic and Jenna's soaring vocals charmed the crowds and no doubt encouraged the ticket sales for the already massively popular tour.

Chunk! No Captain Chunk were brilliant openers for the night. With their upbeat pop-punk they had the room bouncing along right from the offset. Their energy filled the room and by the time it came around to their cover of 'All Star' the crowd was putty in their hands, chanting the song back to them. The set was short but sweet and unlike some openers it was memorable which will work in their favour in the future.

Before we get down to the gritty punk of Tonight Alive we were covered in sugary pop by Arizona's The Summer Set. Having seen them enough times by now I knew what to expect: B-Dales pulling some Beyonce moves, sing-a-longs and a well placed cover - and that's exactly what we got. Coming out to 'Lightening In A Bottle' the crowd were timidly into it but second song 'Fuck U Over' was followed by the ever annoying/catchy 'Chelsea' so all timidness was thrown aside and I watched grown men sing as loud as they can. Ed Sheeran's 'Sing' was their chosen cover which gained a loud response from the sold-out room. Finishing up their set with 'Boomerang' the crowd seemed genuinely pleased to have seen them but the feeling that everyone just can't wait for one band and one band only is inescapable.

When Rusted Roots 'Send Me On My Way' started playing I knew we were moments from Tonight Alive taking to the stage. The song ended, another small intro played and then the quintet blasted their way on playing 'The Edge.' The crowd was mighty terrifying, truly one of the most deafening experiences of my life. It was written all over their faces how much this meant to them and their passion for what they were doing was so evident I found myself getting choked up on more than one occasion - and that's a pretty hard thing to do, generally speaking I don't cry.
But it wasn't just the acoustic sing-a-long with Jenna to 'Let It Land' and 'Amelia' where her tears streamed quietly down her face; it wasn't the hilarious and stupidly awesome impromptu cover of 'Killing In The Name Of' and it wasn't even the few occasions I caught the eye of Jenna and Whak and we sang to each other that made the night so special, it's the fact Tonight Alive songs are dark, hopeful and absolutely real. It's hard not to feel personally connected to these songs, whether it's 'Listening' and 'What Are You So Scared Of?' which on some level were written for us, the fans. Or 'Lonely Girl' a song about sucky friendships which I'm sure everyone has had their fair share of from the phenomenal volume of the crowd alone. For me, songs like 'The Ocean' and 'Bathwater' carry a lot of weight in my mind for the exact reasons as Jenna herself - the shit trip that is eczema. It sounds so trivial but when it decides to take over your body it hurts not just physically but mentally and The Other Side was like therapy to me as a listener and to Jenna as an artist. It's more cleansing than copious amounts of Savlon and E-45 ever will be.
The final two songs were vastly different with 'Breaking And Entering' starting mosh pits back up and a fitting finale of 'The Other Side' allowing everyone a moment to let the last hour and half sink in. The show was more than I could have hoped in every single way with everyone leaving saying the same thing: holy fucking shit that was incredible. So while Tonight Alive go back home to write album three we'll all patiently wait with The Other Side on repeat wondering how they're going to top that and not for one moment doubting that they can.