OF MICE & MEN // RIVERSIDE, NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE
'Finally returning to Newcastle after two years, Of Mice & Men rocked the Riverside.'
OF MICE AND MEN AT THE RIVERSIDE, NEWCASTLE - 12.11.18
PICTURE BY WILL GORMAN
★★★★☆
Playing the first of two headliner shows in the UK, Of Mice and & Men started this mini tour strong. After finishing an extensive tour with Bullet For My Valentine around Europe which finished at the prestigious Alexandria Palace in London, to then playing an intimate show to around one hundred and fifty lucky fans.
Starting the night off was Liverpool’s Loathe. What a way to start off the night, with their fast, bouncy tracks, it certainly got the crowd in a good mood. Their tracks feature predominantly unclean vocals but have moments with clean vocals which shows Kadeem France’s vocal range. Bringing their own production which consisted of monitors with reactive visuals looked great and made their set even better. They sounded great and I really enjoyed their set. Featured in their set was popular tracks such as ‘It’s Yours’ and ‘White hot.’ The most enjoyable part of their set was during their last track when France got into the crowd and the most.
Up next was SHVPES who I feel stole the show. I’ve only been listening them since the release of second album which came out a few days ago however I was honestly blown away by them. I couldn’t fault their performance one bit, I honestly think they were the best band of the night, with Griffin Dickinson’s cracking vocals and his incredible showmanship I’m glad I witnessed their performance. Now I can’t stop listening to their new album ‘Greater Than.’
Finally, what everyone was waiting for Of Mice & Men! The group I have been following for over five years put on a hell of a show. Playing a short but snappy set with a mix of old and new tracks which pleased all fans. Since going from the role of bassist and back up vocalist to taking up the role of frontman Aaron Pauley does not disappoint. Still managing to play bass and sound exactly like their studio LPs it’s no wonder why they have such a large following. I would even say they sounded better live. I wish the set was a bit longer however it was still impressive. Starting off with ‘Defy’ from their recent album which is also called ‘Defy’ this set mood. Later in the set the band disappeared and drummer Valentino Arteaga began to play the intro to ‘Bones Exposed’ which got the crowd going once again. As the set drew to a close, they finished with ‘The Flood’ off their second album which was a great throwback. After finishing this track Pauley asks the crowd “Who wants a guitar pick?” Throwing at least ten into the crowd.
With the band off stage, chants of ‘one more song’ beginning, Pauley then returned saying “I suppose we can give you one more song.” With the intro to ‘The Depths’ beginning the band asked everyone to sit down and “to wait for it to drop.” As soon as the track started everyone in the crowd was jumping, I honestly couldn’t think of a better way to finish the night. Overall, I really enjoyed tonight and hope for Of Mice & Men to return to Newcastle very soon!
SETLIST: OF MICE AND MEN, THE RIVERSIDE, NEWCASTLE - 12.11.2018
Defy
Warzone
Unbreakable
Would You Still Be There?
You Make Me Sick
PAIN
Bones Exposed
Instincts
The Flood
ENCORE:
The Depths