You Me At Six + Waterparks + The Maine + Bears In Trees @ Alexandra Palace

2023-02-18

London, England, United Kingdom – Its unusual to see over 2/3rds of the audience in before the first band has taken to the stage, but that was the case tonight. Opening the show are self-proclaimed “Dirtbag Boy Band”, Bears In Trees, who never fail to impress. Comprised of Nick Peters (He/Him) on guitar, Iain Gillespie (They/Them) on bass and vocals, Callum Litchfield (He/Him) on piano, ukulele and vocals, and George Berry (He/Him) on drums; the band formed in 2014 after Iain, Nick and Callum started playing music together in high school. Later down the line, in college, the trio met George, uniting to form the Bears In Trees we know and love today. The South-London based band have grown a strong, dedicated international following which was evident tonight. With cheers filling the room as the four stepped onto the stage, the band got straight into their first song, dancing around the stage. From the look on their faces, it was incredibly clear they love what they do and were making the most of being in front of such a large audience. As the song came to a close, cheers of ‘Nick’ filled the front half of the room making the band laugh. Pushing forward with their set the band didn’t stop to talk much, only briefly commenting on the meaning of each song. From the moment they stepped onto the stage to the last note, they had the whole crowd singing and dancing along. Taking to Instagram after their set the band commented on how it was incredible to perform on the stage at Alexandra Palace, even playing ‘Fresh Concrete’, a song about pouring wet concrete into your mouth. For anyone who didn’t know who Bears In Trees were when they stepped in they surely won’t be forgetting them any time soon.

Though a tough job to follow on from Bears In Trees, The Maine took the challenge and made it seem simple. Matching the previous energy in the room they had everyone singing and dancing almost immediately. Sticking to the theme of the tour, red lights flooded the stage giving a slightly eery feel to the more upbeat performance. With the band all wearing white it was interesting to see the tiny red writing on singer John O’Callaghan’s shirt reading ‘It’s all in my head’. Being so small it was barely visible from the front row, as if it wasn’t meant to be read. With most of the venue filled now, the energy in the room seemed to have reached a peak until John invited Charlotte Sands to join them on the stage, holding out a mic for her and bowing down. The blue-haired singer proudly took the mic from John and the band launched into their next song. With such an unexpected surprise the audience put everything they had into dancing and singing. As the song came to an end Charlotte left the stage leaving The Maine alone. With such power and confidence, the band powered through their set interacting with the audience throughout. It’s great to see larger bands keeping a close bond with their fans. As they say, time flies when you’re having fun and unfortunately this was the case tonight. With one last song to go, Josh called on an audience member to join them on stage to sing part of ‘Black Butterflies & Deja vu‘. Finishing up the song the crowd went wild. Pausing briefly before stepping off the stage, the band took a photo with the audience and invited the fan to stay up and join in on the photo as well.

Up next, Waterparks, a semi-genreless trio from Huston. Setting their goals to break the rules of genres, the band never fail to put on an incredible performance. With such a large stage and only three musicians, some may have thought they would have looked lost, but with the help of two very large orange inflatable tennis balls and the power and confidence of singer, Awsten Knight and guitarist, Geoff Wigington, the band covered every inch of the stage during their short set. Pulling the crowd’s energy back up, the band didn’t waste any time before getting started with their first song. Not wasting time between songs either, they stormed ahead. With fast rap-like sections, it was interesting to watch as a BSL interpreter signed along managing to keep intime perfectly throughout putting incredible power and energy into the actions. Even someone who didn’t understand BSL would have been able to understand what was being said. After playing some older songs the band asked if it was ok if they played some off their new album, coming out April 14^th. Though some may not have known the lyrics the vibe in the room didn’t waver. The band’s love for music is very apparent in everything they do with Awsten’s commitment being more physically visible than the others as his hair colour matches the album’s colour palette. For tonight’s gig, in anticipation of their upcoming album the colour of choice was Red. Though the previous bands were very energetic, Awsten and Geoff took home the trophy tonight, at every point they could legs and arms flailed in all directions and their feet were more often than not off the floor. This is a very common occurrence for Waterparks gigs. With a short pause as the band prepared themselves for their final song a chant of ‘Geoff’ emerged from the crowd. As the chant hit the band Awsten took to his mic to ask for one for Otto as well before launching into their last song. Before stepping off stage Awtsen took the chance to thank the previous bands and You Me At Six for having them on the tour.

With a completely packed venue, the moment everyone was waiting for dawned, You Me At Six took to the stage to round off a great night. An elaborate lighting rig was lowered down as the first note of ‘Deep Cuts’ blared through the speakers. Now the stage was properly set the band blasted their way through the first few songs. With such a great vibe filling the room the band announced they had a special treat for tonight as it was the last night of the tour. With this announcement getting the crowd even more excited no one could believe it when Rou Reynolds casually strolled down the staircase in the centre of the stage to perform ‘No Future? Yeah Right’. Though some people may have only been there for the openers, it was clear that everyone was having fun. Handwritten signs popped up and down, many asking the band to take a Bereal, facetime friends or just take a phone on stage and tonight was a lucky night for one very enthusiastic fan. Though everyone seemed to be having a great time, the band acknowledged the fact some people in the audience may not know who You Me At Six are. To make sure everyone was included singer, Josh Franceschi asked if he could take a minute to teach everyone the chorus of ‘God Bless The 90’s Kids’. With such a straightforward chorus of ‘God bless the 90’s kids, 21st-century misfits’ it didn’t take long before everyone got the hang of it. Powering through the rest of the set with ease it came the time for the band to announce the last song, ‘Beautiful Way’. Quickly dividing the crowd in three sections for mosh pits, he demanded everyone have as much fun as they can as it was the last chance they were going to get tonight. Before starting the song Josh asked a fan what happened to their face, after struggling to hear the response a couple of times he finally heard that a guy hit them in the mosh pit. Taking a quick moment to tell the injured person if they see the person who hit them to let him know and he would ‘sort him out’ himself. Commenting on how that fan wasn’t a true You Me At Six fan for injuring a peer no more time was wasted before jumping into ‘Beautiful Way’. The perfect way to round off this incredible gig.