As a band already tipped for great things, VersaEmerge
certainly lived up to their hype with a fantastic
performance full of energy and passion. Holding
an prominent presence throughout their performance,
Sierra Kusterbeck showed off not only her impressive
vocal capabilities, but the character to lead
VersaEmerge from strength to strength in the coming
year. Getting involved with the crowd constantly
and always showing their appreciation for their
fans or "vultures" as Sierra prefers,
the band gave the crowd everything they wanted
with tracks like "Stranger", "Your
Own Love" and "Fixed at Zero" from
their new album by the same name, as well as older
fan favourites such as "Past Praying For".
Even though their CD's usually include two guitars,
the band still manages to deliver a dramatic sound
in their live performances, with guitarist Blake
Harnage and bassist Devin Ingelido carrying the
bands sound forward while being nicely supported
by a subtle backing track of strings and synthesisers
in the appropriate tracks. VersaEmerge are definitely
a worth checking out if you haven't done so already.
If you don't, you'll probably be hearing a lot
more from them in the coming months anyway.
Having
never seen We The Kings before, I can safely say
that the crowd as well as myself, were completely
blown away by a fantastic performance from a band
that are truly destined for big big things. A
tireless performance filled with stories of ex
girlfriends with an over protective cuban drug
lord dad, dancing lessons and enough jokes to
leave everyone with a big grin on their face by
the end of their set, We The Kings offered everything
a great set should have and more.
Opening with
"Skyway Avenue" from their self titled
album, the band went on to deliver a host of popular
tracks from both of their albums such as "She
Takes Me High", "What You do to Me"
and "Secret Valentine" as well as a
cover of Jimmy Eat World's "The Middle",
which followed a brief acoustic encounter which
saw front man Travis Clark serenade the crowd
with a more upbeat reggae version of their ballad
track with Demi Lovato "We'll Be a Dream"
and "Rain Falls Down".
All the stories
and jokes between songs added a very nice personal
touch to the performance and they really made
the crowd feel apart of the whole evening, getting
them to shout and sing along at every available
opportunity, to which a packed out o2 Academy
2 needed little encouragement.
If a dazzling performance
wasn't enough for everyone already, the band brought
out a surprise in the form of You Me At Six members
Josh Franceschi and Max Helyer to help them end
in style with one of the songs that catapulted
the band into their current success, "Check
Yes Juliet".
If you've somehow managed to
miss We The Kings several tours of the UK, you
certainly need to see them they next time they
venture over. No questions asked.
VersaEmerge– 4/5
We The Kings– 5/5
Review By Justin Andree
|
