On the last leg of their world tour, Neck Deep bring along with them Southampton’s punk sextet Creeper and Liverpool’s pop punkers WSTR. A great line up of UK bands at – Leeds Beckett Student Union – a great venue; for what more could we ask?
First up are Liverpudlians WSTR with a very energetic set that inherits a surprisingly great reaction, the best of which arising for ‘Graveyard Shift’ and ‘Fair Weather’. Having only been together since last year, their set comprises the majority of their debut EP ‘SKRWD’ and sneaks in a canny cover of Limp Bizkit’s ‘Break Stuff’. The bridge sees the packed venue on their knees before bursting into one big vigorous mosh. Impressive. (3.5/5)
Representing the south coast are 2016’s intrepid grave new world explorers Creeper. Chiming piano keys play to a dark poem before the six-piece make an entrance and frontman Will Gould – wearing the Creeper Cult patch on his leathers – gets the crowd going with a fairly exceptional stage presence. Set highlights are ‘Black Mass’ where fans and newbies alike are dancing in harmony and ‘Henley’s Ghost’ that sees a room full of lights and swaying arms. A fresh sound; these guys are definitely one to watch. (3.5/5)
The penultimate show of a world tour for Neck Deep, and they still absolutely nail it. 71 shows in 15 countries in 4 months and here they are in Leeds, full to the brim with energy and ready to show us a good time. Having followed the outfit since the ’Rain In July’ era, it was a lot of fun to think back to seeing them support H2O. They have since played Brixton Academy with Blink 182, supported All Time Low at Wembley Stadium and not to mention, their sophomore studio album ‘Life’s Not Out to Get You’ made number 8 in the UK charts. Neck Deep have come along way, and not without reason.
They kick it off – pardon the pun – with ‘Citizens of Earth,’ not the best on the album but well-played, then lead into ‘Losing Teeth’ and the madness begins. ‘Gold Steps’ is the first to be played from ‘LNOTGY’ and has every single crowd member singing, jumping, finger-pointing, you name it. Being a massive fan of this album, I had a lot of anticipation for seeing the songs live and I was quite frankly taken aback. The view from the balcony – a neon-lit silhouette of bouncing heads and 2000 arms in the air – almost gives me goosebumps.
Another highlight is standout track from their debut EP ‘What Did You Expect?’ where we see fans getting a little rowdier before cranking it down several notches for the all-too-infamous track ‘A Part Of Me’. Creeper’s keyboardist Hannah Greenwood steps in for female vocals; two-person towers arise; the crowd sings the lyrics back.
A brimming encore of three tracks: ‘Head to The Ground’ is played acoustically by frontman Ben Barlow, ’December’ is played with a full band and they round it off extremely well with ’Can’t Kick Up The Roots,’ the winning track of ’LNOTGY’ and of this nostalgic, delightfully enjoyable set by our Wrexham troopers. (5/5)
There’s certainly a reason this show sold out way before the date – a tour that is celebratory of the UK punk scene. A mixture of age groups, genders and music tastes alike but one thing in common: a few hours spent in euphoria.
4/5
Words by Lucy Jones (@loo_say9)
