You don’t expect much when you’re getting something for free – but sometimes, you end up pleasantly surprised. After a fiasco of a tour in April – they decided to cancel the London gig in order to go on tour with 30Seconds to Mars (or something) in the USA – and the outcry from the fans who had already bought tickets, Anberlin did us a solid.
That solid was a free show. They booked out the Relentless Garage in Islington, and they offered everyone who had already got tickets the very simple, but effective Guestlist ballot.
Three of those tickets were mine, and with some shuffling due to absentees, golf and people on holiday, I managed to find someone to go with me. I imagine they offered out the other ticket on the door. Good on them. Even though, when one of the door staff asked a couple of girls in front of us who we were seeing, apparently “Anne Boleyn” wasn’t on the list. (We were in the wrong queue, it was kinda poorly advertised. So sue us.)
The support were “WHAT NOW?” – and with a name like that, they seem to be forever destined to remain supporting acts. Especially because they didn’t seem able to find a cohesive image, and I might have wanted to scream at their whiny faux American accents, because, please, you’re from South Africa and you’re based in London. There is no America in there. So we spent their set laughing about the typical accent at the bar. I think their music would have been good, if they’d… well, it would have been good without the whine, but hey, what do I know. I think some people enjoyed it.
But onto the band themselves. With chants of "An-Ber-Lin!" shooting occasionally through the crowd, it was quite fun to feel the anticipation. They’d not been to London for a while, everyone was here because they’d kinda screwed up by running out on us – I think there was a comment on the announcement calling them sell-outs – but this proved that we were here for them anyway. And we played accordingly. Moments after they launched into Godspeed, all of it was lost, and I’ll tell you, this was better than anything I’d heard in a while.
Being the fangirl that I am, I couldn’t help but squeal every time they launched into one of my favourites, and I think the poor guy in front of me, the barrier between us and a mosh pit, thought he was treading on my toes (when in fact, I was getting smacked in the head by the guy behind – and they say mosh pits are dangerous. Pshht.) – but I was squealing a lot. It was just wonderful to hear the songs I’ve loved for ages on my iPod get transferred into something awesome and unforgettable live – I don’t think it’ll be possible for me to forget a full crowd chanting the lyrics of Dismantle.Repair. Ever.
And then there was the proverbial technical fault – there’s definitely a correlation between going to see Anberlin and there being a tech. problem. Last time (in Birmingham), the sound was bad enough to warrant people calling that they couldn’t hear Stephen Christian singing (a sad occurrence if ever there was one), and this time, in London, there were some smoking pedals and apparently a moderately busted amp.
Welcome to the impromptu acoustic set that I loved so much. With little else to go on, the band pulled out all the stops, joking around and playing some of their best songs – including the fantastic “A Day Late,” and “The Unwinding Cable Car” – which should always be enjoyed acoustically. This lasted a while – at least until they’d fixed the tech faults, and honestly, I was more than a little blown away. We were also treated to a rendition of an Anchor & Braille song – which was apparently the first and probably only time they’ve pulled that out of the bag. It was nice, something different and something very beautiful to share with a crowd that had been left wanting.
The night was something else, I’ll tell you – far better than I’d seen them before, and far more entertaining than I’d expected. Even if I woke up with a very suspect bruise.
Star Rating: ★★★★★
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