English rock band, Lower Than Atlantis played to a sold out Liquid Rooms in Edinburgh last May. The boys were joined on their UK tour by Boston Manor, who warmed up a very eager crowd.
From start to finish, Boston Manor filled the room with energy and excitement, encouraging a young crowd to sing along and jump around. Although it was clear that not many people knew the lyrics, it didn’t stop them from dancing and chanting with the front man, Henry Cox. As someone who hadn’t yet heard of the band, I certainly left as a new fan.
After a short wait, everything went dark. It was time for the main event. My 14-year-old self was exploding with excitement. The first of the strobe lights began to flash as the band members bounced onto centre stage with an abundance of energy. The cords of ‘Had Enough‘ had been strummed and Mike Duce, lead singer, projected the lyrics with every ounce of himself.
However, it was clear to see that the band were not very impressed by the reaction of this Edinburgh crowd. Duce continued to encourage and attempt to excite the crowd but with no result he was obviously frustrated.
In order to wake up the crowd he did what any good rock-star would have done in his position. With much to the disgust and worry of the security, a mosh pit was created. The crowd was ecstatic, as were the band. Hit after hit from their newest album, Safe In Sound, they rocked the stage as if they were at Download Festival. It was easy to forget we were in the centre of Edinburgh in a tiny intimate venue. Much to my surprise the boys played some of their oldest material such as ‘Far Q’ , which is a personal favourite.
The mood of the gig then changed, this was something I have never seen at any gig I have ever been to (and I have been to a lot!). Front man Duce, got off the stage, climbed the barriers and got into the centre of an adoring crowd. The fans treated him with such respect, giving him space to get into the middle. He then asked the crowd to sit on the ground, keep quiet and he sang another favourite, ‘Another Sad Song‘ acoustically just him and his guitar. The melody carried across the room, it was absolutely beautiful. something I will never forget.
As the band reformed on stage, that famous Scottish chant could have been heard for miles, “Here we, here we, here we f**king go!”. It was hard to ignore how much the band enjoyed this as bassist Dec Hart laughed and drummer Eddy Thrower played to the beat.
The crowd was going insane, EVERYONE was attempting to crowd surf and that included Duce with his guitar!
The last two songs, the encore, were perfectly chosen. Two of the bands most famous tunes, ‘Here We Go‘ and ‘English kids in America‘. Every word was sang, or should I say screamed, with joy and love. It was also a nice touch to the final song with a slight lyric change, “We’re English kids in Edinburgh.”
The tartan trousers also didn’t go unnoticed!
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