Review of Arctic Crescent

Arctic Crescent, an Irish band playing what i would relate to as indie acoustic with some alt rock features seamlessly weaved among the poignant acoustic guitar and piano. It is an original mix, something that works incredibly well, and did not fit into my previous expectations. I find the vocals are beautifully haunting in a strange and individual way. After listening to the 2 available songs as a sample from their YouTube channel, I discovered a theme of peacefully strong vocals and lyrics. I found this theme was a feature on both songs which to me signaled the beginning of a firm musical identity. This firm identity is something I find many new bands are lacking. If this identity is already a feature in the early days, I find them promising. Their potential is really just beginning and I believe that within the future they will progress and expand and grow, hopefully furthering their individualistic style and making promising changes to really expand this original sound and identity.

All in all, I believe Arctic Crescent are ones to watch as a strong band with big promise.

Make a Scene Fest – Middlesbrough – Sunday 5th October 2014

Make a Scene, acclaimed as the North East’s greatest alternative music festival, returns for it’s 5^th year. The festival has welcomed bands such as Lower Than Atlantis, Neck Deep, Blitz Kids, Mallory Knox and Young Guns to their stage year after year to perform for a consistently passionate and enthusiastic crowd. With a combination of the local music scene, for example Across All Oceans and more popular bands, such as Decade, Moose Blood and Roam, the festival truly catered for all. The festival boasts 4 stages, Uprawr Stage which is the equivalent to main stage, Sumo Stage which was a smaller stage opposite main stage, Knee Deep Clothing Stage which was a smaller stage in a room just off of main area and finally, Seaside Studio Stage which was downstairs near the bar area.

 Oh Pioneer. It has to be tough being first up on Uprawr Stage (main stage) when the majority of the crowd are milling between stages not really paying a great deal of attention. But this did not phase them in the slightest, performing a confident, passionate and slick performance, the band were genuine, chatty and talented and were the perfect act to open the festival.
Upon arriving, I was incredibly excited. I was a fan of some bands on the line up and incredibly excited to experiment with some newer local acts. First up was local band,

The next act on Uprawr Stage was another local band, Across All Oceans, a 6 piece pop punk band from Middlesbrough. My favourite genre of music happens to be pop punk, and I am massively aware that the North East is not the most popular place for up and coming pop punk bands. So discovering them is fresh and exciting, and I am certain they have a huge amount of potential. Their set was incredibly personal, lively, exciting and spontaneous. I found their energy electrifying and the most enjoyable part was seeing how visibly thrilled they were to be performing. They performed some of their more well known originals and even touched upon some new material. As a whole, they are fresh, incredibly talented and are oozing potential on a huge scale. I am unbelievably excited to see where the next few months take this band.

 

Funnily enough, my friend ended up chatting to a guy in the crowd after a photo being taken by a band on Sumo Stage. This guy happened to be the lead singer of Lost in the Crowd; he invited us to see his band downstairs on the Seaside Studio Stage.We were definitely not disappointed. They are an alt rock/alternative/experimental 4 piece from the North East and have an incredibly raw, original sound. They played all originals from their EPs and even some new material from an upcoming EP. We were even lucky enough to receive a free sample CD from the band after the performance. They were original, sophisticated and incredibly confident in their style and delivery.

Whilst waiting for one of my favourite bands, I stumbled upon the end of Roam’s performance which I had unfortunately missed due to the overlapping of bands. The crowd responded incredibly well to them, their confidence and atmosphere was contagious and their material was executed passionately. They responded well to the crowd’s enthusiasm and played a range of material including new and old songs.

I was incredibly disappointed to realise I was only able to see a select few songs and look forward to seeing them perform alongside Man Overboard next year.

Next up, was one of my most favourite bands, Moose Blood. Moose Blood are a 4 piece emo/pop rock band that are increasing in popularity with every passing day.

They were another band up on Uprawr Stage, however unfortunately not local. Their performance was as electric and atmospheric as I hoped, if not even better. I was even luckily enough to have Stay Here dedicated to me and my friend, it was one of many gestures that helped cement the idea that this band were one of the most genuine and kind bands I had ever had the pleasure of coming across. Their set was passionate, original and confident. With a range of material, including songs from their upcoming album ‘I’ll Keep You in Mind, From Time to Time’ and even some songs from their earliest EP. I was incredibly proud to notice that the crowd responded incredibly well to them and had livened up a significant amount as their set continued. I was incredibly impressed by their performance and I look forward to seeing them perform again very soon.

My final act of the night was Decade. Decade are a pop punk band from Bath who have recently created a very popular name for themselves touring with bands such Tonight Alive, Mayday Parade and Lower Than Atlantis. I have been a fan of theirs for a while and believe they are an incredibly talented band with heaps and heaps of potential. It is truly amazing to see them begin to receive the recognition they trult deserve. Their set began and it was electrifying from the start. They began with Fool’s Gold, a track from their newest album and it was an excellent choice. The majority of the set was from their newest album and the crowd response was incredible. They were incredibly stoked for this performance and the band did not let the audience down. They carried off one of the best and strongest performances of the whole festival and I was incredibly proud with the confidence and passion they executed so effortlessly through their performance.

All in all, I found Make a Scene one of the most enjoyable gigs of my life and found the bands were incredibly friendly and eagerly interacted with fans. I was lucky enough to meet Moose Blood, Alex Sears from Decade, members of Across All Oceans and Lost in the Crowd. Each and everyone was incredibly genuine, friendly and had no hesitation with communicating and were eager to take photos.