Shit.
They were incredible.
Me and my brother Max decided to head down early in the day so that we could try and secure a barrier spot but by the time we arrived our hopes weren't too great. Queuing behind about 40 people, we ended up behind some railings right opposite the bands tour bus. Result. This meant that throughout our 5 hour long wait we got to see a few of the band, the band's support, Issues and Beartooth, and friends of the band, While She Sleeps chill and tease the crowd with brief hellos and high fives. It was pretty cool and helped past the time until doors finally opened at 6.
Now Koko is a maze. Having never been there before I was not expecting to walk into a dark, but glorious theater where you're not sure what leads to where. Me and Max quickly saw that barrier was definitely not an option so found our way up some stairs and managed to secure ourselves some of the best views in the house. Two tiers up we were opposite the center of the stage and able to see everything we could have wanted to. Not long after finding our view, first support band Beartooth came on. I won't dwell on the support bands for too long, not for any particular reason other than I don't have enough to say about them. Beartooth were good. I don't really know them but the crowd responded greatly to the band who knew how to put on a show. Beartooth were shortly followed by Issues who are unique band. They mix screamo with singing with alternative-metal with electro? I don't know but once again they got the crowd involved and everyone seemed to love them.
Finally Of Mice & Men came on and they were truly better than I ever thought they were going to be. Austin, as expected was the focus of my attention. I couldn't help it. Not only is he a beautiful man but his presence on the stage is hard not to follow. Throughout every word he sang he had a massive smile on his face as he heard the crowd sing back the songs that him and the rest of the band play so passionately. You could tell how moved he was by the experience. His smile kept me smiling and it just reminded me of all the lovely things I've ever read about him. He is such an inspiration in this industry and finally seeing him perform live proved to me why. Of course, all the band were spectacular, Aaron's voice is just as soothing live as it is digitally and Alan and Phil played their riffs beautifully too. But Valentino is something to talk about. Max, being a drummer himself, was telling me how Valentino is one of few drummers to play using two bass drums and how it's really difficult to do. You wouldn't know because Valentino was on point. He is amazing at what he does and I honestly think without him the show wouldn't have been the same. The show was over pretty quickly. They only played for about an hour in total but it was such a perfect set it didn't even matter. Opening with Public Service Announcement (a personal favourite) and closing with The Depths had such great impact. They encored to play You're Not Alone which left the crowd on a massive high; it's such an anthem that it's been stuck in my head ever since. It was just perfect.Unfortunately, I only had my phone on me which takes poor quality photos and videos but I have to include some of what I got because it was too good a gig not to! If you've never heard of Of Mice & Men but like bands that of the alternative-metal type genre, or if you have and are debating whether to see them or not, go see them live! You will not regret it, it is such an experience and they are just perfect. Forget Arctic Monkeys at Reading Festival, these boys are headlining at the same time. It's not even a question of who I'll be seeing, Of Mice & Men it will be.
Setlist
Public Service Announcement
O.G. Loko
Let Live
Feels Like Forever
Bones Exposed
Would You Still Be There
Still YDG'n
Another You
Second & Sebring
Glass Hearts
The Depths
You're Not Alone
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