Review – While She Sleeps

Date: 28th February 2019

Supports: Landmvrks, Trash Boat, Stray From The Path

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Unfortunately thanks to the fantastic queuing set up at O2 I only managed to catch the last three songs from Landmvrks but glad that I did. I hadn’t really listened to them before the tour but they came with a lot of hype wherever I looked. And they certainly lived up to it from the start with Scars being the standout sounding just as impressive live as it does on record. Whilst the mix started with muddy vocals it managed o sort itself out eventually to show just how tight Landmvrks were. There was fantastic interaction from the crowd as well as there were pits and arms thrown galore whenever the band asked. It showed nice and early that a party crowd that were in the building tonight to enjoy the evening.

While Trash Boat didn’t seem to fit on this line up initially it was really impressive to see how crown shyness translated into their live show! The mix of tracks from both albums really worked to show the heavier side of their work! While the clean vocals were slightly off the screams were well and truly on point really working with the chugging guitars and heavy hitting bass. But despite the early technical issues the crowd were fully on board yet again with the entire Academy bouncing along to their tracks! A huge performance from the band really showing what they can produce and a fantastic chance for Trash Boat to play to a very packed out room with their newer tracks even teasing the crowd with the promise of an announcement on the following Monday!

The main support tonight came from the unapologetic hardcore punks in Stray From The Path! Having seen these guys a couple of times over the past couple of years I knew what to expect going into their set and yet somehow they still managed to blow me away! The tracks were heavy hitting all through the set, the crowd were rowdy and Drew managed to keep everything in perfect order! With a very distinct vocal style, the jump from listen to a record to the live show is always watched carefully but there was absolutely no doubt tonight in the transitions. There is a reason that these guys are as huge as they are and it was certainly out in full force tonight with First World Problems really closing out the set on a high note.

The final band of tonight need no introduction and opening the show with Anti-Social really showed that While She Sleeps were here for a good time in Leeds. Having had to upgrade their venue from stylus to the academy showed just how anticipated the new album was and the chance to see these guys play on a larger stage was very welcome! Everything was tight and worked perfectly. The crowd erupted throughout the set not stopping until the end! With Leeds being the closest for While She Sleeps to a Hometown show on this tour you could tell this was a special one for them. The hour or so that they were on stage really flew by ending far too soon. The new singles from So What? really worked alongside some of While She Sleeps’ best work and went to show that even though it was a different sound that they were going for it still felt like a While She Sleeps track and showed the meteoric rise that they’ve had over the past few years!