You Me At Six, Live At Ulster Hall

Just like Halley’s Comet, stories about Pete Doherty getting collared by the long arm of the law and Guns ‘N’ Roses reunion rumours, claims about rock ‘n’ roll being “dead” seem do the rounds on a regular basis. With some critics declaring that “the kids” these days don’t care about loud and proud guitars and are more into dubstep and dance music (despite it being a near lifetime since those very same commentators were young themselves, we hasten to add…) it would appear that we’re once again being led to believe that it’s all over and the pop empresarios have won the battle. Not that the long sold-out crowd of youthful rockers currently waiting for Surrey five-piece You Me At Six to come onstage seem to mind of course…
Currently basking in the glow of the success of their third album Sinners Never Sleep, their pop punk sounds have won them an ever-growing army of supporters, and tonight they perform a return show in the suitably grand setting of the Ulster Hall. Opening with the hook-laden ‘Loverboy,’ the band waste little time turning the excitement levels up to ‘11’ and are keen to make up for the postponement of their original show due to illness. Mostly playing material culled from their aforementioned current album (as well as a sprinkling of oldies) the quintet throw all the right shapes over the course of an hour-and-a-half and set staple ‘Take Off Your Colours,’ recent single ‘No One Does It Better’ and more get the crowd singing every word like their lives depended on it.
In fact, by the time we get to the bombastic ballad and main set-closer ‘Crash,’ the pit has been transformed into a living, breathing sea of emotion, with tear-stained girls on one side of Hot Press and boys touching up their guy-liner on the other. This, dear readers, is what you would call a “breakthrough” and while admittedly this reviewer would have preferred a little more spice to the sugar of ‘Jaws On The Floor’ and ‘Underdog,’ it’s heartening to see that rock ‘n’ roll in all its many forms is far from over. At least, not as far as the 2,000 in attendance tonight are concerned anyway…