Hundred Reasons - Academy 3, Manchester, 3/4/2006

  by Helen Tipping

published: 16 / 4 / 2006

intro

Helen Tipping is impressed by Hundred Reasons' energetic performance and show at the Manchester date on their recent tour

Hundred Reasons first came to prominence as the winners of Kerrang’s Best New Band award in 2000 after their first demo was received at the magazine. They come from Surrey, and are currently touring to promote their new album 'Kill Your Own'. Tonight they are playing the smallest room at Manchester Academy which is packed with fans, all of whom seem to be in good spirits. Support comes from Keiko and 65 Days of Static, though we missed Keiko and only caught 65 Day’s last song due to getting lost in Manchester’s one way system. They sounded pretty good though, and seem to have a growing fanbase. Hundred Reasons have a harder edge than when I first saw them 3 years ago at the Leeds Festival, when they had more of an indie/metal sound. They are described as a mixture between post hardcore and hard rock which means very little to me. Their material is now much more varied and they move between slower and faster songs with ease and confidence. Although I’m not a big rock fan, I found myself enjoying this gig, mainly because the band were enjoying themselves so much, despite the death of a good friend the night before, and their mood was infectious. They also play very well together and their material is well crafted which made it an enjoyable experience so I found myself bobbing my head along, though unlike much of the crowd I wouldn’t go so far as crowd surfing! Crowd surfing was positively encouraged with the security staff being very supportive fielding fans and returning them to the audience. After one unfortunate didn't, however, quite make it to the front and fell to the floor to the right of the stage, singer Colin Doran came out with “Be careful, don’t kick anyone in the head and if you’re going to do it make it a good one!” At the end of the set he demonstrated how it should be done by leaping out onto the crowd who passed him around above their heads before returning him to the stage. Certainly an energetic and enjoyable performance.

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