Neck Deep + Roam + Doppelganger LIVE GIG @ Barfly London 13/1/14

Monday the 13th of January was marked to be the first week of tour for the UK's finest pop punk band Neck Deep, with supporting guests ROAM! Being their first ever headline show in London, the Barfly soon became sold out with screaming fans, awaiting their arrival. It was also the official date their latest album Wishful Thinking was released, so the band were in high spirits for a mental gig to follow.

Celebrating their new release, announced on the day that a another support was to come specially from Doppelganger, an alternative rock band from Neck Deep's home town of Wrexham, pleased to have a friendly opener, the band imminently stole everyone's attention from the moment they set up on stage.

No one having a clue who they were or even that they were going to play tonight as announced at such late noticed, people still seemed pretty engaged with the band. As giving them a listen they showed a clear unique and instant quirkiness to their music, blasting their heavy riffs right in your face. Being at a pop punk gig and being the only alternative band certainly does trade off a mark, as for them it was proven to be a good one.

Their exploding passion to music showed through the lead singer and guitarists facial expressions as rocking out all over the stage whilst producing strong and powerful cords, they certainly did open the gig with a whole new incite and feel to their genre.

A strong solid, perfected vocals followed each song with the twisted screams of the backing vocalist intertwined with the bashing crescendos of the drums entirely, ending the song with a static vibration. Along with the catchy lyrics which are still stuck in my head "Something's you should keep to yourself" they made an imprint on me with their everlasting guitar riff that changed with the pace and tempo of the song. A mesh up of fast pace lyrical motions matched short snappy screams that broke down in 2 strums ended the second song in a mash up of everything coming together. Each song then took a similar path with a little twist on each, further surprising the audiences with their astonishing new song, a group in the crowd also got heavily involved causing a little scene. Sad to see their set come to an end, I can say that I really did enjoy hearing them as in the future I can see them playing more and more shows, with the right recognition they could soon be headlining their own tour!

Following that great set was Roam, the band I've been dying to see on this whole tour, as with previous experience in a small crowd when first introduced to them, I was excited to see them in a much bigger venue with a crowd of people who shared the same love as me towards them.

Photo by Elliott Ingham 

 Starting their set of with a much lively, bouncing intro, the band got right into their first song "You Never Said" featuring on their new EP Head Down.
Brilliant for an opening song as it delve right into the upbeat atmosphere keeping everyone in high spirits  before lead vocalist Alex Costello, was joined by a large group of the crowd that pushed forward in an attacking manor, finger pointing and screaming right in his face. Straight away the song had set everyone going mad. Withholding this energetic movement, the crowd remained in full view, with each one pelting out each lyric as soon as they left Alex's mouth.

The true complexity of each strum meshed with the echoed vocals and pop punk beat set each song apart in their different ways but brought the whole crowd together in a unity for everyone to enjoy. Being a very important tour for the band, they certainty did them selves justice as pushing out such an enthusiastic, crowd involving set, giving them an insight to what they're truly capable of gaining new fans along the way, If you still haven't heard of Roam, then what the fuck are you waiting for? They are a must see band live so check them out on tour!

Photo By Elliott Ingham 

Defiantly having the time of my life, with a whole heap of people who started getting really into them towards the end of their set, the tried faces seemed to disappear and were replaced with bright sweaty, vibrant smiles that each member showed when playing, this was also a nice touch that they always seemed like they were enjoying the set and wanted to join in with the crowd themselves. Being my favourite song, Nothing In Return proved to be even more entertaining live with a group of crowd pointers, screaming the lyrics line by line into the mic Alex held out every so often.
Ending the whole set off with Head Rush, Roam had officially destroyed half of the crowd with their new intake on pop punk music, showing it in its rawest form for a room full of people to enjoy, it was such a great set and I do hope that they soon get to do their own headline tour with rooms twice as big, filled fully with Roam fans. Quality band live, nothing could have been better.

Time for the band everyone who sold out the venue was really here to see, Neck Deep! Taking to the stage a bit later on the pop punk band from Wrexham opened up their stage to Kick It, performing a full bouncy, live rhythm that introduced everyone into their set. As soon as this happened, the whole floor teared apart with fans rushing in, pushing forward trying to get to the front, this collision in the crowd forced a massive tidal wave, as What Did You Expect (original) set into play and everyone just went mental. Great song starters as it provided some stability to their hardcore fans who love this aggressive, harden sound but also then eases out for their new, softer fans with Crushing Grief positioned straight after. Feeling more like a room filled with friends than randomers, everyone sang together in unison each and every single word, while Ben bounced around the stage, filling all empty space with his rigid face up against the crowd, passing the microphone to them at certain parts in the song.
Protecting this rough environment  the next the next few songs followed this heavy pop punk style of jumping around, stage diving and crowd surfing, it was such a great atmosphere and experiences to be up on the stage one second before jumping right into the crowd the next, as this process repeated over and over and over and overrrrrr.

Happy that they mixed up the song choices a lot with keeping Rain In July present but also releasing Wishful Thinking, the combination of the two juxtaposed perfectly, creating an ever changing mood that every fan could relate and enjoy. Being the fourth time seeing them Live, I can say that Neck Deep have honestly stepped up their game and produced much more clear structured music live, as this had to be their best performance yet. It may be because it was such a small and intimate crowd that you could really relate to them and be upfront and personal by expressing yourself through music.

Halfway through the set and we had already come to the part where they play All Hype No Heart with a dirty breakdown. Seeing this performed twice already, I know it always goes down well with the crowd as it mixes things up a little with an element of hardcore, breaking into the song. This is where all havoc was lost and people went flying all over the place, it had to be the highlight of their set for sure as this one song differed from all the rest by a long run, setting its face paced harder hitting side that caused a small circle pit to form in the crowd. Glimpse here
Then going back to their original roots with Over and Over, the night had taken an old backseat with fans still going crazy all over the place as more and more stage divers joined, plunging people into the air at every second. Keeping in good beat with each other, drummer Dani gained full focus with his complex talent of bashing the drums kept the band together, as vocalist Ben Barlow followed in his much heighten and gained voice, improved in sounding as well as performance.

Making sure that everyone was live, every so often, the band had good intentions to keep up involved by taking a few breaks and speaking directly towards us, when the atmosphere had calmed down a bit and it was time for the acoustic and slower paced songs to end the night with. A song that everyone knows and loves, Part Of Me was sung not just with Ben, but every single person in the crowd. From start to finish the song was sung in high spirits and tranquil harmonies that filled the room with raw emotions right till the next acoustic.

Finally it was time to say goodbye, as Growing Pains was the last song to be played, not being a big fan on this ending song as it was more softer and calmer, they did perform it justice live, Neck Deep have certainly gained more confidence in their sound when performing, and communicating with their fans so closely, it had to be the best night seeing them live.

All in all the gig was perfectly constructed with three brilliant bands who deserve an equal round of applause for putting on such a brilliant show.

Closely following my top live gigs, I would position this in the top 10 for sure, everything about it was just right and perfect, and no one left the venue without the chatter of what they had just experienced.
10/10 night. Can't wait to see this all over again on Tuesday in Guildford, bring it on!