tom_wim
05/03/06, 12:04 PM
Here's my review for this years Give it a name at earls court, I warn you now its rather long.
Give it a name 06
Give it a name returned for its second year, this time with a move from Alexandra Palace to Earls court, its now a two day event with two stages. Last years debut had been dogged by hour-long queues for food and drink, would the move to Earls Court have solved this? Well in short, yes. Personally I never queued more than 5 minutes for food and drink, so it was off to a good start.
The set up for the two stages was the same as the taste of chaos tour, as one sets up the other plays. Taint opened up the first day on the second stage, I only caught the end of their set but from the sounds of it I didn’t miss much. Next up was The Honorary Title, I’d never heard of them before but was very impressed by them, reminded me a lot of the strokes. The first main stage act of the day was The Bled, they weren’t bad but they weren’t good, just not really my cup of tea I think. Paramore were up on the second stage after The Bled, I’d seen them the week before in Cardiff Barfly and they’d been very good so I was looking forward to them on a bigger stage. They didn’t disappoint, out of all of the second stage bands they probably had one of the best crowd reactions with ‘Pressure’ going down very well. Underoath followed on the main stage and were brilliant, they had masses of energy, playing some new tracks from their forthcoming album which sounded good, although the best song had to be ‘It’s dangerous business walking out your front door’ Unfortunately I missed Drive By due to a need for food.
Up on the main stage was Panic! At the Disco. I think most of the crowd was there just for them. There were so many screaming girls I thought I’d accidentally gone to a Take That concert for a second. Now I’ve been a fan of Panic! even before their album came out but I can’t help but feel there a little disappointing live, they just seem lacking at the moment. What can I say about Men Women and Children other than the fact I danced my ass off! These guys are brilliant; one of the best bands of the second stage. Thrice were up next on the main stage, there one of these bands that I know but have never really listened to their stuff. Well they made me realise I’ve been missing out, they played a blinding set finishing with ‘Red Sky’ which blew me away. The last band on the second stage was Billy Talent, they were good enough but just didn’t do anything for me.
Atreyu were up next on the main stage, they were appalling plain and simple. I was just hoping it would be over mercifully soon. I was looking forward to seeing what the new look Atari’s were going to be like. I’m sure I’m going to be in a minority opinion but I like the new sound. The addition of the cello and keyboard works really well and the new songs sound brilliant, I can’t wait to hear the new album. Finally we come to the last band of the day My Chemical Romance. Well what can you say other than they stole the show. I’d have liked to have heard some new stuff but I suppose I’ll have to wait till Reading. They of course played a superb set with ‘The Ghost of You’ and ‘Helena’ my personal favourites.
Day two was kicked off by the Blackout, reminded me a lot of Funeral For a Friend. They were surprisingly good. However nowhere near as good as the next band, Gym Class Heroes are real showmen. You’d think a hip hop rock band might have had a hard time working the crowd at a festival like give it a name but you’d be very wrong, these guys know how to work a crowd playing the intro to Fall Out Boy’s ‘Dance Dance’ before bursting into ‘Taxi Driver’. The first band on the main stage was Silverstein, I’d seen them before in the Barfly and really enjoyed them but they just didn’t seem the same band today. Bayside were up next on the second stage, I was interested to see what they were like since the loss of their drummer. Well they were awesome, it’ll be a crime if these guys aren’t huge one day. Up next was the worst band of the whole weekend. Aiden sounded dreadful and looked like they’d raided Superdrug’s makeup department. I missed most of Classic Case, the one song I did hear sounded good.
Now I’ve only really listened to We Are Scientists when there being played on MTV 2 so only knew a handful of their songs, so I was pleasantly surprised that they played all the ones I knew and the ones I didn’t sounded very good. Up next on the second stage was Say Anything, a good solid performance with ‘Alive With The Glory of Love’ as the highlight. Goldfinger took to the main stage next and I always forget how good they are, last time I saw them was Reading 2004 and they were brilliant then and like a fine wine they get better with age. These guys rock, plain and simple, there just so much fun to watch. The highlight of the weekend had to be when front man John Feldmann lobbed his guitar into the crowd at the end of the set. The last band of the day on the second stage was Hundred Reasons, whilst they were good I’d have preferred to hear more old stuff than new.
I think most of the crowd were there just to see Tom Delonge’s new band Angels and Airwaves. Before I say about the band I’ve never been so disgusted by a crowd before. Normally you go to a gig and if your in the pit and you fall over you know that you’ll be picked up by people in the crowd. However during Angels and Airwaves pits were collapsing and the people around it weren’t bothering to pick them up. Security guards where shouting at people to turn around and pick people up I’ve never seen anything like it. Anyway Angels and Airwaves were good, but no where near the life changing band Tom Delonge seems to think they are, I think they’d be better if Tom took his head from out his ass, just a thought. Taking Back Sunday have definitely got one hard bassist in the form of Matt Romano. As anyone who’s seen them before will know Adam Lazzara swings his mic around which is fine except today he nailed matt square in the forehead. He was taken off stage and returned a few minutes later with a massive bandage on his head and face covered in blood. According to the band he was taken to hospital straight after and had six stitches. Anyway there performance was mind blowing, they went though a mixture of new and old material that was all played flawlessly, I can’t wait to see them again at Reading. Lost Prophets finish the day off, I only caught the first half of their set as I had a train to catch but it was a bit average, there new stuff really didn’t seem that good, especially compared to Taking Back Sunday. All in all it was a cracking weekend, lets hope Give it a Name 07 is just as good.
Give it a name 06
Give it a name returned for its second year, this time with a move from Alexandra Palace to Earls court, its now a two day event with two stages. Last years debut had been dogged by hour-long queues for food and drink, would the move to Earls Court have solved this? Well in short, yes. Personally I never queued more than 5 minutes for food and drink, so it was off to a good start.
The set up for the two stages was the same as the taste of chaos tour, as one sets up the other plays. Taint opened up the first day on the second stage, I only caught the end of their set but from the sounds of it I didn’t miss much. Next up was The Honorary Title, I’d never heard of them before but was very impressed by them, reminded me a lot of the strokes. The first main stage act of the day was The Bled, they weren’t bad but they weren’t good, just not really my cup of tea I think. Paramore were up on the second stage after The Bled, I’d seen them the week before in Cardiff Barfly and they’d been very good so I was looking forward to them on a bigger stage. They didn’t disappoint, out of all of the second stage bands they probably had one of the best crowd reactions with ‘Pressure’ going down very well. Underoath followed on the main stage and were brilliant, they had masses of energy, playing some new tracks from their forthcoming album which sounded good, although the best song had to be ‘It’s dangerous business walking out your front door’ Unfortunately I missed Drive By due to a need for food.
Up on the main stage was Panic! At the Disco. I think most of the crowd was there just for them. There were so many screaming girls I thought I’d accidentally gone to a Take That concert for a second. Now I’ve been a fan of Panic! even before their album came out but I can’t help but feel there a little disappointing live, they just seem lacking at the moment. What can I say about Men Women and Children other than the fact I danced my ass off! These guys are brilliant; one of the best bands of the second stage. Thrice were up next on the main stage, there one of these bands that I know but have never really listened to their stuff. Well they made me realise I’ve been missing out, they played a blinding set finishing with ‘Red Sky’ which blew me away. The last band on the second stage was Billy Talent, they were good enough but just didn’t do anything for me.
Atreyu were up next on the main stage, they were appalling plain and simple. I was just hoping it would be over mercifully soon. I was looking forward to seeing what the new look Atari’s were going to be like. I’m sure I’m going to be in a minority opinion but I like the new sound. The addition of the cello and keyboard works really well and the new songs sound brilliant, I can’t wait to hear the new album. Finally we come to the last band of the day My Chemical Romance. Well what can you say other than they stole the show. I’d have liked to have heard some new stuff but I suppose I’ll have to wait till Reading. They of course played a superb set with ‘The Ghost of You’ and ‘Helena’ my personal favourites.
Day two was kicked off by the Blackout, reminded me a lot of Funeral For a Friend. They were surprisingly good. However nowhere near as good as the next band, Gym Class Heroes are real showmen. You’d think a hip hop rock band might have had a hard time working the crowd at a festival like give it a name but you’d be very wrong, these guys know how to work a crowd playing the intro to Fall Out Boy’s ‘Dance Dance’ before bursting into ‘Taxi Driver’. The first band on the main stage was Silverstein, I’d seen them before in the Barfly and really enjoyed them but they just didn’t seem the same band today. Bayside were up next on the second stage, I was interested to see what they were like since the loss of their drummer. Well they were awesome, it’ll be a crime if these guys aren’t huge one day. Up next was the worst band of the whole weekend. Aiden sounded dreadful and looked like they’d raided Superdrug’s makeup department. I missed most of Classic Case, the one song I did hear sounded good.
Now I’ve only really listened to We Are Scientists when there being played on MTV 2 so only knew a handful of their songs, so I was pleasantly surprised that they played all the ones I knew and the ones I didn’t sounded very good. Up next on the second stage was Say Anything, a good solid performance with ‘Alive With The Glory of Love’ as the highlight. Goldfinger took to the main stage next and I always forget how good they are, last time I saw them was Reading 2004 and they were brilliant then and like a fine wine they get better with age. These guys rock, plain and simple, there just so much fun to watch. The highlight of the weekend had to be when front man John Feldmann lobbed his guitar into the crowd at the end of the set. The last band of the day on the second stage was Hundred Reasons, whilst they were good I’d have preferred to hear more old stuff than new.
I think most of the crowd were there just to see Tom Delonge’s new band Angels and Airwaves. Before I say about the band I’ve never been so disgusted by a crowd before. Normally you go to a gig and if your in the pit and you fall over you know that you’ll be picked up by people in the crowd. However during Angels and Airwaves pits were collapsing and the people around it weren’t bothering to pick them up. Security guards where shouting at people to turn around and pick people up I’ve never seen anything like it. Anyway Angels and Airwaves were good, but no where near the life changing band Tom Delonge seems to think they are, I think they’d be better if Tom took his head from out his ass, just a thought. Taking Back Sunday have definitely got one hard bassist in the form of Matt Romano. As anyone who’s seen them before will know Adam Lazzara swings his mic around which is fine except today he nailed matt square in the forehead. He was taken off stage and returned a few minutes later with a massive bandage on his head and face covered in blood. According to the band he was taken to hospital straight after and had six stitches. Anyway there performance was mind blowing, they went though a mixture of new and old material that was all played flawlessly, I can’t wait to see them again at Reading. Lost Prophets finish the day off, I only caught the first half of their set as I had a train to catch but it was a bit average, there new stuff really didn’t seem that good, especially compared to Taking Back Sunday. All in all it was a cracking weekend, lets hope Give it a Name 07 is just as good.