Live Review: Destroy Rebuild Until God Shows, Blitz Kids and Decade - Roadhouse, Manchester - 4/3/11

It's their first ever UK headline show and as Destroy Rebuild Until God Shows' Craig Owens says on stage it’s also his first show in four years that he is sober, his new band is in town to impress the people of Manchester with their post-hardcore songs.

But up first is Decade who can only be described as catchy post-hardcore. With catchy guitar riffs and breakdowns it’s a good mix and I can hear there is definitely a Comeback Kid influence to them. The band was received well and goes offstage hopefully in the knowledge that they’ve gained more fans.

Hassle Records recent new signing Blitz Kids are up next with their pop rock tunes. The band is a great tight live band and run through most of their songs with ease and precision. Songs like ‘Story’ get a good crowd response and a few people sing along with them as well. The front man Joe James seems to have a bit of arrogance about him tonight, stating at the end of a song “about 35 people clapped then”, which doesn’t go down too well with the Manchester crowd.

As the crowd begins to grow and as more people come through the doors of the venue the anticipation mounts as everyone is here to witness the spectacle that is Destroy Rebuild Until God Shows. With it being only a week ago since their first album was released it’s surprising to see that the crowd know the words, shouting them back with pure intensity. Craig is of course an amazing front man, spending the whole set in the faces of the fans on the front row he sings perfectly and screams with sheer passion.

The band plays through some of their heaviest songs like ‘Stop Reading, Start Doing Pushups’ and ‘The Only Thing You Talk About’ which go down a storm and leave people in awe. Finishing the intense set with the song ‘If You Think This Song Is About You It Probably Is’ Owens asking for a stage invasion. Of course the crowd obliges standing on stage screaming the song’s lyrics along with him, with bassist Adam Russell also going into the crowd the set ends perfectly.

With the bands set being only seven songs long and just under an hour in length, the night finishes relatively early. The band of course leave the crowd wanting more and no doubt they will be back to the shores of the UK soon enough.

Words by Aaron Wilson