Last Witness LAST SHOW @ Camden Underworld 19/10/13

The five piece metalcore band from London, Last Witness announced their breakup a while back, but before they wen't down in flames, they had to light the fire somehow, and what better way of doing that then a final goodbye show at Camden's finest
hardcore venue, The Underworld. Starting out in 2006, the band have been going for some time and just feel that it's the end for them as achieving much more than they set out to do, the band can now say that they have accomplished their goals.

Living in the same hometown as they band, they really couldn't say goodbye without doing a last show in their very home, so when they announced they would in mid October, many fans from outside of London awaited to get tickets as they soon sold out within a few days.
The support for this last every show was equally as spectacular than before, More Than Life and Breaking Point. Two well known bands amonst the audience, the show seemed promising to be grand after all.

The show started at the earlier time of 6pm, awaiting for the venue to fill with crowds of people, as the first band, Rough Hands took to the stage at 6:30. For the first supporting bands, there wasn't a large crowd, however with Witness they seemed to be pulling all the right people. As the usual pit which is formed at the back or middle, now took place in a semi-circular format right at the front, clearing its path for all the HxC dancers to go mental in.  Moving on to Prowler, who drew in a few more people, with their heavy hardcore based vocals and repetitive beating of the drums, two guys got really into the music, swinging their arms everywhere, creating a two man pit right at the front, whilst the vast majority of the room stood in a soft movement towards them, appreciating their music. The next band to come on were Breaking Point, who had caused up a storm outside the venue and also inside. As they took  to the stage at 7:45, (an early start) they got the whole crowd moving this time. Never before have I seen anything quite like it at a gig before. Masses of people crowded the balcony's and the back floor of the venue, while the front was open wide for anyone to mosh in. The way that the crowd immediately got involved as soon as the band started playing with such enthusiasm and passion painted all over their faces, really did show the build up of this tension would follow when Witness come to play.

Taking us directly into the pure hardcore music, breaking point proved to be popular with the crowd, as the bit got bigger and more and more people joined, expressing their love for the music through a unique way of dancing. At this point, people were flying all over the place, going absolutely mental, and you got the usual three men who started the pit, keeping a good eye on everyone else, making sure it was relatively safe. Another thing I like about these gigs are that there is a sense of community when you're on the floor moshing to a band, because everyone around you has that same love for the music you also love. In a way you are sharing that one interest with them through music, as when one person falls over, you simple stop what you're doing and help them up. It's something I've seen a lot and something which also makes me feel somewhat safe in a 'dangerous' environment.

Following up this hectic performance was the last supporting band before Witness, More Than Life who took to the stage at 8:30, giving just enough time for everyone to catch their breath before another bit of action. Even more fans had now moved from the stairs down to the pit on the floor, making it even bigger, squashing everyone tightly together in union to their music. Again pulling the hardcore, fast pace music right into everyone's ear drums, they are jumped around in a similar pattern as before, but this time with far more energy and passion, passing the mic out to the crowd as everyone jumped to it, screaming back the next set of lyrics. The atmosphere was truly marvelous, as everyone was focused on the music playing, having a good time than anything else, the crowd was overpopulated with males to the odd female, once again showing the dedication of fans who had traveled from far distances to be at their last show tonight.

Time passed on as 9:30 came around and, Last Witness were all set up and ready to play for the last time ever as a band in Camden. The build up was emotional as the large gap at the front soon began to fill, until the whole floor which once had gaps in, was now filled to the brim with people all closely, standing together, ready for Last Witness to perform their final set ever.
The whole scene changed, as hundreds of heads were now covering the floor, all upfront and close to the stage, ready for intro to start playing before they could all lose their shit.
All the finger points came out, along with one guy at the back trying to start a one man circle pit on his own, going insanely mental, running from one end to the other, bashing everyone in his way. Last Witness, arrived on stage and got right into the music, the heavy, fast tempo of their music set up the scene while Theo, (vocalist) stepped in with his hard filled metalcore vocals.

By now everyone was trying to salvage their way to the front of the stage, diving, crowd surfing their way right up, as the front of the floor, now was covered in people on top of other people, trying to get on stage or grab the mic of Theo, going mental. It was such a great atmosphere as you could tell, from the back everyone was moshing along to the beat, starting their own pits amongst each other in all areas. "Saccharine" came into play, with its doubled heavy riffs along with its catchy static guitar chorus, matching the stretched out screams coming from Theo, proved to be the song to get everyone up and moving, as it was only the third one in, everyone was already covered in sweat and looked worn out, thus proving evidence of a good night.

Even the other bands who had played and were watching from the balcony seemed to be getting right into the music, as they finger pointed and head banged along with the music, shouting the lyrics right back at the band in a mirrored pattern throughout the night. The night was nearly at an end as Witness got into the last part half of their 12 set-listed song, already on "Snakes and Ladders" the band had pulled off one hell of a night. Still the crowd remained in high spirits, moshing away, trying to dive off the stage, into the crowd then back again in a cyclic structure, never ending. I would say that seeing the crowd from above, it defiantly was a great one, one of the best I had ever seen, and especially for their last show, they pulled in a great one to go down with. Theo then took a few breaks to thank all the other bands who had played, and talked a bit about their last ever show, wanting the crowd to lose what was left of them for the final time, a great response came from us as the cheering and aggression shown in each ones face, proven to answer his question.

From there the night took a more hardcore level for a gig as at one point everyone got on the stage, filling it with sweaty, screaming fans all in support of Witness's last show, having their final chance to grab the mic and sing right into it, exploding all their emotions on stage sharing this immense experiences with everyone else. Theo was passing the mic all around the floor for many different voices to sing into it, screaming their part when it got to them, whilst pushing forth crowd surfers over their heads, multitasking was in need here.
"Less than Zero" began to play, as Theo ran about the stage, diving into the crowd at times, getting absorbed by thousands of hands, yet still bouncing back finishing the last few songs, the night was nearly over but that didn't affect their performance as it was still live as ever, Sending their drips of sweat all over each other, covered in Witness's last outbreak. This song proved to one of my favorites and also one which caused a big storm with the crowd.

It was so hard to tell what was going on exactly, as crowd surfers were surfing on other crowd surfers, blurring the crowd to be one big mosh pile of people floating in the air, moving around at a rapid speed, over and over again, along with the people at the back pushing right forth creating full tension.
Second to last song and Theo had grabbed the mic back again to thank everyone for coming down, and how great the night had been so far, and how no one wished it would end, but it had to but they weren't done just yet. Witness had one last song to play for this manic crowd to finally go wild to.

 
Everyone's hands shot right in the air, pointing towards the band, whilst divers tried to topple over them in their last and final attempt before being pushed right back to the front and repeating the process all over again. The night was at its all time highest, as the crow was begging for more and more, enjoying the final song they would ever perform as a band. The look on everyone face showed that they had lived the fuck out of their bodies that night and were sad it was coming to an end, however they were more than relieved that it ended so well, true hardcore style. Right before the final breakdown, about 10 people got on stage and all dived off at the same time, causing total chaios before the dimming of the lights faded along with the band. No encore, no more songs, this is the end.

I was so privileged enough to be one of the last people viewing Last Witness's last ever show, and fuck glad I was there. Truly one of the best gigs and nights I had ever been to, not just because it was their last, but also because of their dedicated fans, with such passion and emotion they took into the venue and poured it all out into their last set. Sad it's all over, but it has to come to an end one day, and Witness certainly went out with a night to remember.
Overall I would give this gig a rating of 10/10 on just everything. Despite taking a back seat at the gig I still managed to enjoy myself, as the crowds reaction reflected back on me.