Live Review: Young Guns, Save Your Breath, Outcry Collective – Clwb Ifor Bach 1/5/2010

Due to a Lostprophets gig being held in Cardiff on the same day as this, the smart decision was made to make this a matinee show. Some might have worried that this would have had a negative impact on either the turnout or the atmosphere but any worried were immediately vanquished as soon as the first band hit the stage.

That first band was Outcry Collective. Now, in a live review with this band that I did about a month ago, I commented on how the poor turnout and lack of crowd enthusiasm seemed to have quite a big effect on them, so I was especially interested to see how they did with a near full venue, thankfully I can say that I saw an absolutely massive improvement. Every song had a better, much more fuller sound, “Saviour Stranger” once again sounded huge and honourable mentions have to go to “Dead In The Water” and “Straight From The Throat” as those songs only saw to notch up the bands intensity and let them get immerged into their set that little bit more. They did a really good job of warming up the crowd and they impressed me a lot.

Next up were local boys, Save Your Breath. They were always going to go down a storm here, and I’m glad of that, they’re one of the better pop-punk bands around at the moment, and with their new singer fitting in almost effortlessly, it shouldn’t be long before we hear bigger things from this band. The sound wasn’t the best though, and at times it did sound as if you were listening to the set through a pair of bad headphones, but as a band, their performance was pretty much faultless, songs such as “The Lost Boys” go down an absolute treat, with the crowd bouncing to every beat so much so you could feel the floor shaking beneath your feet, the band look as if they’re having the time of their lives, and with such a good reception, who can blame them?

So, it was Young Guns turn to justify this admittedly surprisingly strong turnout, although it may only be surprising down to my own ignorance as I had no idea that this band was so popular. However, as soon as they hit the stage, you can absolutely see why they are; lead singer, Gustav has every person in front of him eating out of his hands with a set that’s woven with tried hits and a couple of new songs, of which “Crystal Clear” sounds the best. New single “Winter Kiss” though was easily the song of the night, the crowd went absolutely crazy for it, singing every word back to the band as it was sung so much so the band look visibly grateful after the song at the reception they just received. The set as a whole was massively impressive, with each song providing the same intensity and enthusiasm as the last.

Overall, this was a great showcase for each band, anyone that was watching would have been impressed with all three, but it’s the headliners Young Guns that will take most of the plaudits, with a new album in June and a slot on the Reading and Leeds festival main stage, delivering sets like this will only increase this bands popularity and I look forward to seeing it rise.

4/5

Chris Marshman