Well that hot weather was short lived if you’re in Yorkshire. Ironic, given the band I’m seeing tonight is called The Dangerous Summer. The band are performing a special show ahead of their Slam Dunk Festival appearance.
Ocean Thieves are a four piece band from our very own South Yorkshire. This band has landed a decent spot, opening for our headliner, in their hometown. The band came on with a great energy. Something that wasn’t too intimidating or patronizing for a mid week crowd. Upon getting on the stage, they motioned for the crowd to move closer and started to ask questions like “who’s excited for the dangerous summer?” To get the crowd “woo”-ing.
The band performed to maybe about half a full room. It seemed like some of the fans tonight weren’t prepared to spend their entire Tuesday evening in the company of an opener. Shame, because they missed out on a solid performance. The crowd that were here were definitely receptive to Ocean Thieves. Though not a rowdy crowd, I could see almost every person bobbing their head to the slow drum melody and the catchy choruses. About halfway through the set, the band gave a shout out to the people that did come early for their set, and encouraged everyone to give themselves a round of applause.
The song “Supernova” was definitely a hit with the audience. People were either moving their knees, tapping their feet or bobbing their head to the tempo. The lights definitely added to the stage, a plus for the venue for giving the lighting design so much thought in one of their smaller rooms. Towards the end of the set, the band had the audience singing back a line from their chorus. Ocean Thieves did a great job at warming up the audience and remained casual and confident throughout their short set.
Cold Years are a four piece band from Scotland. I swear when they announced they were Scottish there was the quietest boo from an English man but I don’t know if I just misinterpreted that? Either way, a good chunk of the audience are glad they’re here. The crowd was inching closer to the stage more than before and an avid fan had a camera poised at the barrier recording the entire set. This band definitely have a more energetic vibe than our opener, I saw the smallest of a mosh pit about halfway through the set but it disappeared within 30 seconds.
Though all the members are playing instruments, it didn’t stop one of the guitarists from going as ham as he could on stage. The dude was constantly moving backwards and forwards, the only place he could due to the size of the space. It was great to see band members just going for it and giving it 100%. The vocalist was stable and had a great charisma on the stage, delivering some great crowd interaction between songs.
My only gripe with our main support’s set would be the sound mix. The drums were so loud compared to the vocals it was hard to hear the vocalist’s melody clearly enough. The snare especially- I can’t tell you the exact lyrics but I could draw you up the drum pattern, if you want. Regardless, it was clear that the band had a great presence on stage and they delivered a high energy set.
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The Dangerous Summer have landed in the UK, ready for their appearance at Slam Dunk festival this weekend. The band have crossed the pond from America and it’s clear they’ve been awaited here in the UK. I could see people donning the tour tees they just bought from the merch stand and wearing it within the pit already. The crowd had now lined the barrier and watched intently as the band performed.
Compared to my regular shows, this crowd is much more placid. But at the same time, this isn’t really the kind of rock you two step or create pits too. There were a few friends in the crowd who were avidly exerting energy on behalf of the rest of the people who’d just finished their 9-5 and had the same routine tomorrow. Mid week gigs have never been the most active, to be fair. During quiet moments of the set, crowd members would “woo” and one in particular shouted “we love you!”- as I say, much awaited.
The band played their newest single “What’s an Hour Really Worth?” to the excitement of the audience below. I say below, it was maybe a foot away. The singer even shakes someone’s hand just before they started, probably could’ve during but, he plays guitar so…bit difficult whilst they perform. The crowd were singing along to the words, showing the love for the band as the single is only a day old. The sound mix was much better this set, I could hear the vocals and the grit he holds (even when he would be restarting a song 3 times because he couldn’t get his tuning right) and the guitars were going strong with their riffs and melodies.
The Dangerous Summer can be caught at Slam Dunk Festival this weekend and if you can’t make that, they’re releasing new music which you can check out on Spotify. Cold Years have their newest album A Different Life available to listen to now and Ocean Thieves have a great discography to sink your teeth into with the promise of new music soon.
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Photos by Jayne Slater
