Hit The Deck returned this year boasting a line-up of biblical proportions.
The first band I saw live was Nai Harvest. One thing that will strike you about Nai Harvest both live and when listening to their music is that you can hardly believe that they are a 2 piece. They make more noise and have more stage presence that some 5 piece bands. They played a 30 minute set to a dangerously full rescue rooms which just had more and more people pile in to see them play.
Next up was The Summer Set. I’ve been trying to think of a way to describe my second experience of seeing this band live since they finished their set at 17:45 yesterday and all I can muster is “sigh”. They do, admittedly have some catchy songs “The Boys You Do” and “F*ck You Over” being the two that I can listen to without wanting to drive a nail through my ears but everything else just seems like a “pop punk” One Direction. The bands soul aim is to make painfully generic music aimed at 14-16 year old females. Which, to give them some credit, they have achieved because at the grand old age of 21 I was the oldest person in the room by a good few years.
After the disappointment and pain I endured through The Summer Set I was rewarded with what was an outstanding set from The Front Bottoms. I saw The Front Bottoms a year ago in a tiny pub, they were playing to a crowd of at the very most 36. This time, they belted out a set full on energy and passion to a half-full Rock City. Kicking off their set with “Skeletons” from latest album Talon of the Hawk. Lead singer Brian Sella had the crowd singing back to the words to hits like “Au Revoir”, “The Beers” and “Maps”. They finished the set with a massive and superb rendition of “Twin Sized Mattress”.
Following The Front Bottoms I made my way over to the forum to catch The Maine. The Maine played a solid set to a pretty packed The Forum. Front man John O’Callaghan really interacted with the crowd well and managed something a lot of Americans struggle with. He said a place name 90% correct.