Tonight we were off Fibbers in York to see Kids In Glass Houses. Hailing from Cardiff their music is somewhat aligned with the likes of Lostprophets and Hundred Reasons, with a sprinkling of You Me At Six. Indeed, they've played support to these very bands as well as supporting Sterophonics in 2010 at the Cardiff City Stadium and even been a headline act on the main stage at Bingley Music Live in 2012.
I was first introduced to the band's music back in 2009 when Haz, who was accompanying us for this outing, recommended that I got a copy of their debut album Smart Casual. He also recommended the follow up, Dirt which was released in 2010. Chatting to Haz as we waited outside he said that their third album, In Gold Blood, had taken the band in a different direction that he personally wasn't keen on but that he understood that they had returned to form based on tracks he'd heard from their forthcoming album, Peace, due for release in September this year.
I have to admit that it's been a long time since I had to queue outside a venue to get in and Mr H was being a tinker pretending to examine our ticket documentation in minute detail before saying "OK Roj", laughing and stamping the back of our hands.
The first band, Summer City, were already in full flight when we got inside. Bit of a pop rock/punk outfit, I think they're from Ripon. The lead singer reminded me of 'Jay' from The Inbetweeners and he had a bit of hair that keep flopping in his face. Musically they were a bit like I imagine Blink-182 to have been when they started out. There was a strong dance element to some of their tracks and they even managed to do a cover of Carly Rae Jepsen’s Call Me Maybe, which was a bit weird.
The second support band were a much more polished outfit. Verses are a band from Brighton formed in 2010 and they play heavy rock in the vein of Puddle Of Mudd. I particularly liked the track Who We Are and Haz was so impressed that he purchased a copy of their CD Come To Life. Highly recommended.
Due to a very enthusiastic crowd we only managed to get a third of the way to the front and slightly left of centre but had a pretty good position for KIGH who after opening with Artbreaker I, then launched straight into Youngblood (Let It Out).
Vocalist Aled Phillips was practically redundant as the audience sang along to almost every song. The set was mostly taken from the first two albums but also included Drive, the first single to be taken from the new album, Peace. There was quite a bit of moshing and at one point a 'circle of death' but the crowd were largely good-natured and obviously enjoying themselves. They closed with Matters At All and there was no encore. I was slightly disappointed that the set lasted less than an hour but mightily impressed with their live performance. Superb.
