Live Review: Architects – Wolverhampton
20th October 2021
Words: The Bearded Monkey
Photos: Tim Finch
It's my first indoor gig since the beginning of the pandemic and what better band to share this evening with than the Brighton five piece, Architects.
A sold out show tonight in one of Wolverhampton's treasures, KK's Steel Mill. I have only been here a handful of times but it is such an impressive space with the Priest memorabilia, easy access layout and the huge stage. After grabbing a drink from the longest bar queue in the world and catching up with a few friends I was stood and ready to see a band I have admired for some time.
It's been nine years since Architects have been to Wolverhampton and in vocalist Sam Carter's words "It's been too long" and "we are sorry its took us so long to come back".
Architects storm onto the stage with the heavy hitting 'Black Lungs' followed by 'Discourse Is Dead' and it's clear that the audience are as excited as the band to be back surrounded by live music. Carter is straight off the stage and into the audience followed by the first few (of many) crowd surfers of the evening.
One of my favourite tracks from the 2016 album 'All Our Gods Have Abandoned Us', 'Nihilist' gets a huge reaction from the audience with an emotional scream of the album title. "Have we got energy? It's a Saturday night" Carter asks the audience, it's clear we do and the band smash through 'Modern Misery'. Architects are sounding huge tonight with the depth and definition coming from Adam Christiansen and Josh Middleton on guitar, I have always been a fan of Middleton's guitar tone and playing but the contrast between the two players is subtle but effective.
The gremlins were at play though as the band had to restart 'A Match Made In Heaven' twice due to issues with the click track. Carter fills the time by giving a heartfelt speech about how COVID has affected people's mental health, everybody in the audience gives a round of applause as I think we have all had moments over the last two years where we have questioned "what's the point?". After a chant for Tequila and Carter sharing a shot with a member of the audience we are back up and running and they blast through 'A Match Made In Heaven', followed by a huge circle pit for the oldest song they are playing this evening 'Gravedigger'.
As we reach the half way point of Architects set, Sam takes the time to comment and use his platform to highlight how women shouldn't have to fear being sexually harassed, spiked or worse. It really got me thinking actually how far we have come, I remember at Download Festival in 2006 or 2007 they used to have "boob cam" on the screens in-between bands, it was all quite slapstick but I remember feeling a little awkward watching it. I came on my own to this gig as I felt safe enough to do so, our "sisters" don't always have the same luxury. We still have a long way to go but, thinking about it I am glad some of those old "traditions" and "jokes" have gone.
After overcoming the technical issues Architects make up for it by blasting through a blistering set including their hits 'Hereafter', 'Dead Butterflies', 'Royal Beggers' and 'Gone With The Wind'.
There is a huge "TOM, TOM, TOM, TOM" chant for the late Tom Searle who sadly passed in 2016 and this led into the anthemic 'Doomsday' which was the song that Tom didn't manage to finishing writing before he passed and the band released shortly after his death to show that they would be continuing with then, new guitarist Josh Middleton of Sylosis who was a long time friend of the band and Tom.
The band exit the stage and there is that awkward moment where some people leave and the rest of us eagerly await, like a Marvel movie, the return of the band. Architects come back onto the stage and say "we were always going to come and do a couple more for you" and they proceed into the penultimate song of the evening 'Meteor' taken from the new album 'For Those That Wish To Exist' which got to number 1 in the UK charts.
Before the final song, Carter announces that its a very special night due to drummer Dan Searle's birthday. The band share a whisky on stage before returning to their instruments to close with the incredible, stomping riffage of 'Animals' there's not a single person in the room standing still. Every head is banging and it's the perfect end to a fantastic show from Architects.
Live Photo Credits: Tim Finch Photography
