All Time Low – Live Review (Manchester Jan 2012)
All Time Low + The Maine
Manchester Apollo
21 January 2012
I should probably start with a couple of confessions. Firstly, this is my début gig review, so go easy on me if I get slightly tangential (I will). Secondly, as a 23-year-old male who spends the majority of his days writing about football, I’m probably not the target audience. That being said, I have an awful soft spot for All Time Low so when the opportunity came up to review this gig, I jumped at it!
The supposedly sold out venue looked suspiciously quiet as I made my way up to the gallery to my seat just as the main support, The Maine, took to the stage. My worries that the venue had proved too big turned out to be completely unfounded however, as I was greeted with an already full Apollo lapping up every note the support act produced. The Maine‘s brand of what I can only describe as ‘The Jonas Brothers covering Snow Patrol‘ wasn’t really to my taste so I made my way down to the bar to buy an extortionately priced can of Carlsberg; one advantage I’ve found with All Time Low gigs is that the bar is always empty, something the Apollo obviously didn’t expect as all 20 of the staff stood staring at me across an empty room.
After a brief period of crowd sing alongs with the PA system, the headliners took to the stage. Kicking off with Time-Bomb, the band barely had time to complete the first chorus before being swarmed by a tsunami of bras, the sheer weight of which looked like buckling the microphone stand by the time I Feel Like Dancin’ had the gallery simultaneously grooving, screaming and jumping. It was my first time sat in the gallery and for a while I was worried it would also be my last, as the floor groaned in a way which would give architects and insurance companies nightmares.
Bigger venue and higher ticket prices allowed an extravagant light show which the band – and fans – clearly revelled in. There were no synchronised jumps on show tonight; just four young men expertly playing unadulterated pop in front of a scene reminiscent to Close Encounters Of The Third Kind.
Latest album Dirty Work was heavily represented, but fit seamlessly alongside the likes of Stella, Stay Awake and Damned If I Do in a finely balanced set.
I’d like to take credit for Coffee Shop Soundtrack finding its way back onto the set list due to endlessly harassing the band in Big Hands after a shocking omission in last January’s Academy gig – unfortunately it garnered the worst reception of any song on that night.
Sexual innuendo is to be expected from a band which can’t seem to keep any clothes on during photo sessions, but the level was ramped up to a stage where the jokes had far surpassed any semblance of subtlety. Exclaiming that ‘Everyone in here is DTF… Down To Fuck!’ before proceeding to blast out Rage Against The Machine riffs, while ‘Tap Dat Ass’ flashed across the giant screens was slightly uncomfortable due to the amount of chaperoning parents around me.
As the the hits rolled out it became apparent that a venue the size of the Apollo is more than adequate for a band with All Time Low‘s natural talent for pure pop hooks – Six Feet Under The Stars, Guts and Lost In Stereo had the crowd begging for the obvious encore of new track Do You Want Me (Dead?), Weightless and Dear Maria. The band quite clearly love what they do, and judging from the consistently ecstatic crowd reaction for the entire 90 minutes, they aren’t alone.
Review by Danny
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