You Me at Six - Academy, Newcastle, 10/3/2009

  by Kelly Smith

published: 19 / 3 / 2009

intro

At the Newcastle Academy, Kelly Smith watches much hyped pop punk five piece You Me At Six play a capable, yet almost entirely formulaic set which inds them rarely breaking out of their comfort zone

You Me At Six are fast emerging as the British success story of the past year. In relatively little time, they’ve been on the cover of 'Kerrang', been played on mainstream Radio 1 shows and have supported Fall Out Boy during their Autumn UK tour. Put this altogether, and couple it with the fact that You Me At Six comprise five boys who don’t look a day over 16, and this could be the reason that on this particular night the number of teenage girls spilling into the Newcastle Academy was at best a fire safety risk and at worst an absolutely uncountable figure. After the boyfriend and I purchased a pint in order to show that we were the oldest people in the building (I saw maybe two other people with alcoholic drinks all evening. I like to think we all shared a knowing “we’re getting too old for this” glance, but it was dark, so who knows), the first support band Emarosa appeared and proceeded to work the crowd into a frenzy, before second support band the Spill Canvas slowed it down with a more mellow tone (although there were, inexplicably, a group of about 8 kids in a manic mosh-pit near the front. I can only assume they hated it and were furiously trying to escape). You Me At Six exploded onto the stage after milking their build up and intro more than is necessary for a band who haven’t reached too many dizzying heights yet. Obviously trying to extract the most anguished screams from teenage girls, it took about four minutes of flashing lights and shadows behind a curtain before the band actually appeared. When they start playing, it’s evident that You Me At Six are by all accounts a capable pop punk outfit. Their catchy songs are memorable, if a little repetitive, and there was nothing played which didn’t provoke a massive response from the crowd. Favourites seemed to be 'Gossip', album title track 'Take Off Your Colours', 'The Truth is a Terrible Thing' and the massively successful single 'Save It For the Bedroom', which it a tidy little pop song, and undoubtedly their best. An hour’s worth of songs is good going for a band who only have one album, and the cover of 'Sugar, We’re Going Down' was perfect for the audience, for most of whom Fall Out Boy have sadly probably become a band of yesteryear. For crowd pleasing abilities and teenage pop-punk credentials, You Me At Six deserve their newfound fame and success. For anything more critically acclaimed, I feel like You Me At Six would have to work a bit harder, try something a bit different, reach outside of their comfort zone in order to really come up with something impressive. I can’t wait for the day when someone does something attention grabbing, innovative and thoughtful with an existing genre. I’d be hard pushed to name something about pop punk I didn’t like, but, gun to my head, I would say the way bands seem to be stuck in the same formulaic routine was my only gripe. You Me At Six could benefit from spending less time worrying if their outfits were still trendy, and more time trying to come up with their own sound. Having said that of course, everyone comes away from a gig with their own review. The boyfriend’s thoughts? “I really like it when all the guitarists stand in a line and move their heads at the same time.” So there you have it. More of that please, You Me At Six.

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