Live Review: As December Falls - The Waterfront, Norwich
31st January 2024
Support: Artio, Greywind
Words: Tom Atkin
We have a fabulous trio of bands tonight hailing on to the Waterfront's stage. Kicking off not 20 minutes after the doors have opened is Artio, an alt rock band from Leeds. I can safely say I have never heard of them before but they put on a hell of a show, vocalists Rae is a helluva presence on stage and vocally spot on!
The whole band just bring this amazingly fun energy to the performance that is amazing for an opening band. I can’t comment on musical accuracy or anything like having not listened to them before, however, this is one of those bands where I do not think it really matters. They are passionate about their music, perform flawlassly. It's refreshing to see the younger generation of artists that put their all into their craft.
Their debut album 'Babyface' drops on the 1st of March and is available to preorder here.
Next up, another genre description you rarely hear, an Irish Emo Rock band, in the form of the amazing Greywind. Fronted by Steph O’Sullivan who looks as though she has literally fallen out of the mid 2000’s emo era.
Following on from Artio, Greywind bring just as much energy to the table. Following one of their songs going viral on TikTok they have been growing ever since, with a fanbase stretching across into America (from what I understand some of those fans flew to the UK just to see them). You can understand why as well, Greywind are absolutely spot in every aspect; light banter between songs, interaction with the audience, they are the whole package. The next time you see them playing, stop by and enjoy the beautiful songs with heavy influence from the likes of MCR and Paramore. But with their own stunning twist.
Last up tonight we have the mighty As December Falls. As with the theme of the evening they are also just brim with energy. Starting the set with 'More to You' the crowd are already pumped up and raring to go, and the band are happy to deliver the sound track to the rest of the evening. What I will say, I have seen a fair few bands over the years and I can not remember another band that look to be so happy to be performing. They are having the time of their life.
Naturally as this tour is on the back of their recent album 'Join The Club' we get treated to the works from that album. 'Alive', 'Carousel' and 'Mayday' all thrown into the mix. However, they went back across all their albums, they love to give the fans what they want. Favourites from their self titled album, songs from their first EP, everything is thrown in tonight.
Something I really enjoyed was towards the end of the set, where the band would normally finish, go off stage, the crowd chants for one more, you know the standard concert encore. They openly scrapped this idea, calling it out and saying they would rather play more songs than mess about. This is a good thing to do and I think all artists should take note.
The energy and passion continued throughout the whole show, 'No Money', 'I Can’t Sleep' and 'Tear It Out' all performed flawlessly. Ande Hunter and and Timmy Francis (guitar and bass) absolutely smashing out their respective forms, Lukas James going absolutely mental on the drums and of course Bethany Curtis’s stunning vocals. All of this thrown together proved to be an amazing performance.
In my opinion, they should be playing Norwich’s larger venue, the UEA, purely on the skill and the ability to keep the whole crowd so rowdy all night - we even had a circle pit, which is always welcomed! Closing out the night with 2016’s 'Ride' was an absolutely perfect choice. A throw back to their original album and showing that they have always had this great energy and passion.
They are now on tour in Europe supporting Normandie, however there are a few UK shows in that tour and will be back on British soil in April!
The full set list:
More to You
Join the Club
Mayday
I Don't Feel Like Feeling Great
Little by Little
Alive
Nothing on You
No Money
Go Away
I Can’t Sleep
Tear it Out
Carousel
Everything You Say
Ride
