Hidden In Plain View (The Garage, 28/03/15)
Last night, I headed to The Garage in Highbury to see Hidden In Plain View. The band were formally on Drive Thru Records, a label whose output I followed religiously during my teenage years. Having broken up in 2007, the New Jersey post-hardcore/pop-punkers have reunited for a tenth anniversary tour of their debut full length "Life In Dreaming".
Opening band Doubt say it's their first ever London show and it shows. The Medway rockers seem to lack a clear identity at this point in time. The highlight of their set is a competent if unspectacular cover of Jimmy Eat World's "Bleed American". I suspect it's still very much early days for them.
Next up come Alvarez Kings from Rotherham, who play indie rock reminiscent of the likes of Kings of Leon. They know how to craft an anthem and it's not difficult to imagine these songs filling larger rooms than the 600 capacity Garage. Very promising.
We were then treated to 45 minutes of William Beckett playing solo with an acoustic guitar. Beckett was previously the front man of The Academy Is.., another band I was a big fan of back in the day. He plays a handful of old TAI hits, focusing predominantly on their hit debut record "Almost Here", much to the delight of myself and a group of about 20 girls singing along to every word. Beckett mixes this with some songs from his recently established solo career, demonstrating that he hasn't lost the knack of catchy songwriting. He ends perfectly on TAI's "Attention", a song about unrequited love that's as emo as it gets, but I love it.
Finally, making a mockery of the conventional 11pm curfew, come Hidden In Plain View. By their 10:40 stage time, a half full venue has thinned to about 200 people. That number has been halved again by the time HIPV finally leave the stage at 11:45. It's a great shame and I can't help but feel the atmosphere would have been hugely improved in one of London's smaller venues, like the Borderline or the Camden Barfly.
This is no reflection on the band themselves, who give everything they've got for an hour. Starting with the crashing intensity of "Bleed For You", the energy seldom lets up. It's a joyous journey through a series of what I would describe as absolute bangers, including the slow burning "Garden Statement", the huge riffs of "A Minor Detail" and the angsty hit "Twenty Below". For a band who have seldom performed live over the past few years, it's an impressive showing.
They close on Shamans Witch Magic, a song that I later realise that I first heard 12 years ago. Bloody hell. It's an appropriate end to the evening, a highly enjoyable ride on what Beckett described earlier in the evening as "the nostalgia train".
Opening band Doubt say it's their first ever London show and it shows. The Medway rockers seem to lack a clear identity at this point in time. The highlight of their set is a competent if unspectacular cover of Jimmy Eat World's "Bleed American". I suspect it's still very much early days for them.
Next up come Alvarez Kings from Rotherham, who play indie rock reminiscent of the likes of Kings of Leon. They know how to craft an anthem and it's not difficult to imagine these songs filling larger rooms than the 600 capacity Garage. Very promising.
We were then treated to 45 minutes of William Beckett playing solo with an acoustic guitar. Beckett was previously the front man of The Academy Is.., another band I was a big fan of back in the day. He plays a handful of old TAI hits, focusing predominantly on their hit debut record "Almost Here", much to the delight of myself and a group of about 20 girls singing along to every word. Beckett mixes this with some songs from his recently established solo career, demonstrating that he hasn't lost the knack of catchy songwriting. He ends perfectly on TAI's "Attention", a song about unrequited love that's as emo as it gets, but I love it.
Finally, making a mockery of the conventional 11pm curfew, come Hidden In Plain View. By their 10:40 stage time, a half full venue has thinned to about 200 people. That number has been halved again by the time HIPV finally leave the stage at 11:45. It's a great shame and I can't help but feel the atmosphere would have been hugely improved in one of London's smaller venues, like the Borderline or the Camden Barfly.
This is no reflection on the band themselves, who give everything they've got for an hour. Starting with the crashing intensity of "Bleed For You", the energy seldom lets up. It's a joyous journey through a series of what I would describe as absolute bangers, including the slow burning "Garden Statement", the huge riffs of "A Minor Detail" and the angsty hit "Twenty Below". For a band who have seldom performed live over the past few years, it's an impressive showing.
They close on Shamans Witch Magic, a song that I later realise that I first heard 12 years ago. Bloody hell. It's an appropriate end to the evening, a highly enjoyable ride on what Beckett described earlier in the evening as "the nostalgia train".
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