April Divine are a 4 piece alternative
rock band who first emerged over a decade ago
in the town of Örnsköldsvik, Sweden.
They have the privilege of being the sole act
supporting Staind on their short UK run; musically
they are the ideal support act as they play a
brand of alternative rock which is technical and
catchy much like the musical styles of Staind
themselves, so when the math is done sounds like
it should be a great show. Whilst the music is
a impressive the performance quite frankly is
lacking on a fair few parts, most notable the
lead vocalist who’s vocals repeatedly kept
going flat and on top of that there wasn’t
really much of a show to watch as the band did
little to involve the audience with their set
and due to tuning and water intake there were
some awkward silences.
Staind have wrote some of my all time favourite
songs, they’ve produced some truly astonishing
albums but the one thing for me this band has
never been able to do is entertain me at a live
show. I have previously commented that the band
has no energy on stage and that lead vocalist
Aaron Lewis has no distinctive stage presence,
now I stand by what I said  because back when I’ve
seen them before I’ve come away extremely
disappointed but tonight there is definitely something
different. Aaron still has the same attitude as
always but for some reason tonight it’s
working for him, during songs whilst he’s
embracing his hardened bad boy attitude it works
for him but between songs the man has very little
to say and keeps it ridiculously brief. During
“So Far Away” and towards the end
of the set he managed to get the audience to sing
with him and used that aggression he has during
songs with crowd reaction which is very effective.
The other 2 members aren’t in the spotlight
but they aren’t hiding away either, I must
mention lead guitarist Mike’s insane headbanging.
All I can say is finally! I have seen a Staind
show and actually enjoyed myself today, if they
keep this up who knows I may even attend next
time!
April Divine – 3/5
Staind – 4/5
Review By James Webb
Photos By Robert Lawrence |
