You Me at Six (photo by Brittany Thorne)
For a show that had so many things going wrong, You Me At Six’s performance Sunday at the White Rabbit was so right.
I was looking forward to the night (which featured a lineup of Dinosaur Pile-Up, Conditions, and Cute Is What We Aim For), so I prepared for it—I made a mix CD with all the bands’ best songs.
When the set times were posted on Twitter just hours before the show, I noticed it lacked a certain opening act. Apparently, Dinosaur Pile-Up was held up in the UK and wouldn’t be making the show. I was pretty disappointed, because what they lack in their band name they make up in music. They had a problem with visas and the lads will not be catching the tour until Los Angeles.
Luckily, I found that out before I got to the White Rabbit when the doors opened—an early 4:30 p.m. Conditions didn’t even go on stage until two hours later, and they wouldn’t have been worth the wait. Once on stage they were really boring. Besides a funny one-verse rendition of “Deep In the Heart of Texas,” the band was laughing amongst each other and lacked a real connection with the audience, with lead singer Brandon Roundtree either singing to the ceiling or to his bandmates.
They were followed by Cute Is What We Aim For, recently back together after a five-year break so their vocalist Shaant Hacikyan could get sober. While he mentioned his sob story in a kind of awkward way (mentioning a time he tried to take advantage of girls while he was drunk), they played all their old hits and one familiar-sounding new song (“A Close Mind with an Open Mouth”) that sent the crowd into a beautiful state of nostalgia.
Now, I’ve never been a huge fan of You Me at Six like the fan-girl following the band has attracted, but I must admit they were really solid onstage. Their confidence and overall stage presence were remarkable, considering this is their first headlining U.S. tour. I saw them once two years ago at Warped Tour, but this was a whole new experience. The band seemed more mature and set in their sound. Halfway through their set, lead singer Josh Franceschi admitted that they were close to canceling the show due to some throat problems he was having, but he used his illness to his advantage. Not only did Franceschi use the eager crowd as an aid to his longer and higher notes—he even brought up a fan to guest vocal during the normal verse Bring Me The Horizon’s Oli Sykes’ screams in their song “Bite My Tongue.” The anonymous boy filled Sykes’ part of the song surprisingly well and brought a huge energy the crowd fed off throughout his bit.
Overall, the night was fun and Cute is What We Aim For and You Me At Six made it a great experience. It might not have gone according to plan, but I’m glad it wasn’t canceled. A performance like that only left me even more excited for You Me At Six’s new album coming out January 2014.
