Tonight is a big night, tonight a band with a
career spanning 14 years returns to the UK for
a one off special performance. A performance to
thank fans for sticking with them and to wet peoples
appetites for the new album and tours to come.
This band have had many ups and downs over the
years but have always had a strong following and
have always tried to do something different and
fun every time they make an album. I am genuinely
excited to see them and I hope they give their
fans something to remember.
I walked past the Koko at around 3 to see a massive
line of people already eagerly waiting to get
it and rock out, many people at the front had
blankets and could have been their overnight,
that is how much some fans love this band. I arrive
back at 7ish to see the line is now round the
block and you can tell that its going to be a
massively fun night.
The crowd gets let in and shortly the support
band arrive onstage and get ready to wet peoples
appetites. Normally the support bands at these
things are a wild card and nearly always turn
out to be some band overly tipped for big things,
who’s genre is totally off the mark and
don’t go down well with the fans of the
main band. Luckily tonight the support band is
Canterbury and they go down a storm. Their fresh
pop punky style mixed with indie rhythms and melodic
vocals is a refreshing change and sounds wonderful.
They burst into their first song ‘peace
and quiet’ and it sounds immense, very catchy
and gets everyone moving. They play through their
7 song set quite quickly and do what a good support
band does, get everyone warmed up and raring to
go, without trying to make the night their own.
They go down well and now everyone is ready for
the main attraction…
Good Charlotte come out to a massive reception,
its been a while since they played in the UK but
people have not forgotten them, their pop punk
heroes and they’re ready to rock out! Joel,
Benji, Billy, Paul and Dean come out slowly in
darkness to some intro music whilst the crowd
scream with excitement, the lights come on and
they blast into ‘The Anthem’ and this
sets the tone for the night. This high energy
pop punk makes people move and this packed out
crowd love it! They tear down the house and when
it comes to the end of the song, they all stand
on platforms and simultaneously jump into the
air, all thoroughly enjoying the atmosphere of
the Koko. Good Charlotte are clearly having fun
as they play classics off their second album ‘The
Young and The Hopeless’. During ‘My
Bloody Valentine’ they add a different twist
mixing it into ‘So Lonely’ which is
a Police cover and then back into the main song
towards the end, they do this seamlessly and put
a great spin on one of their best tracks.
They continue to rock out for the next hour and
a half to almost twenty tracks from all 4 albums,
playing hit after hit, keeping the crowd singing
along all the way, every song as catchy as the
last. They also have time to throw in a new track
‘Like Its Her Birthday’ from the upcoming
album Cardiology which is going to be released
later this year. The track goes down well and
Joel tells the crowd that the song is about one
of Benji’s ex girlfriend’s who goes
out and parties every night, like its her birthday.
They play an amazing set and put their heart and
soul into every moment of the gig while Benji
tells the crowd how this gig means a lot to them
and how its one they will always remember and
that they are grateful that their fans in the
UK have stuck by them over the years. Good Charlotte
come back onto the stage for their encore which
is made up of ’The Story Of My Old Man’
mixed into a cover of Blink 182’s ’Dammit’
which sounds great and shows their appreciation
of another great pop punk band. They go into a
rarely played track from their second album ‘Riot
Girl’ and finish on ‘The Young And
The Hopeless’ ending with another huge jump
from their platforms to great applaud and cheers.
Tonight has been special, a great gig from a
great band that I look forward to seeing more
from in the upcoming months. The set they played
tonight seems like one you might not see again
as the new album will make up a lot of the songs
and playing for an hour and a half isn’t
done by most bands, so if you where there then
you will appreciate how rare a gig it was, but
if you weren’t check them out when they
come back over because it may not be as special
but it will be a hell of a lot of fun!!!
Good Charlotte – 5/5
Canterbury – 4/5
Review By James Daly
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