Live Review: Silverstein and There For Tomorrow - The HMV Institute, Birmingham - 18/3/11

Labelmates There for Tomorrow produce their blend of pop-punk and Circa Survive-esque guitars. Blasting through songs from their recent album 'A Little Faster' and even throwing out some new songs from their upcoming Summer release. However, the crowd isn't really reacting as much as they'd want to and most of the crowd remain unphased by them and continue to drink their drinks.

As Silverstein grace the stage, an overwhelming amount of praise comes from this select audience. The band open up with the unlikely 'I Am the Arsonist' from their most recent effort 'A Shipwreck in the Sand'. After following through with a very well received 'Sacrifice', one of the bands staple songs kicks in and all hell breaks loose, for 'Smashed Into Pieces' an unruly circle pit ensues whilst vocalist Shane Told screams "And if my lungs still let me breath, would you be there for me".

'Discovering The Waterfront' is a break from all of that, a moment for the crowd to catch their breathe. However, it is within the next two, very short but very worthwhile, cover songs that really bring forth the true potential of Silverstein. Covering Kid Dynamite and American Nightmare within 3 minutes, it doesn't matter to the crowd whether or not they know the songs, there's beyond enough energy to put Napalm Death out of a job. The rest of the band seem really shy up until 'Vices' when bassist, Bill Hamilton, grabs the mic during the bridge and screams to his hearts content, it's a wonder that his throat can still take it afterwards.

Despite leaving the stage much to the dismay of the fans, Shane Told returns, teasing fans with an acoustic guitar, he opens up with the new ballad, 'Replace You'. It wasn't until Shane started playing 'My Heroine' that the phones were out, set to record. Gradually the band walk on during the last verse of the song and this mellow setting has been destroyed and within the space of one chorus, a deafening crescendo convinces a huge amount of applause from all members of the audience.

Silverstein are really one of those bands that you don't even have to listen to regularly to enjoy their live show, there is so much energy packed into every show and i'm pretty sure all the people standing at the back shrugging ended up in a mosh pit at one point during the night.

Words by George Gadd