ARCHITECTS

PLUS: Lower Than Atlantis, Devil Sold His Soul and Norma Jean
O2 Academy 2, Newcastle
04/10/2010

Words: Katie Wright Photos: Tim Easton

(Photos taken at Koko, London 08/10/10)

Returning to Newcastle after playing in the support slot for A Day To Remember in March this year, Architects were the headliners tonight and they’ve brought an army of metal acts with them. Featuring Lower Than Atlantis, Devil Sold His Soul and Norma Jean, this gig was unsurprisingly sold out. Storming through their sets, the support came fast and heavy, all setting the pace in their own way for the main act. However it was the band who have set the benchmark for the genre in previous years, Norma Jean, who truly brought the room to life.

Once Architects finally made their highly desired appearance on stage the fans burst into wall to wall chaos. The set list was pretty much a routine, there was no room for on stage antics or conversations, this is a band who prefer to let the music do the only talking. New single Day In Day Out was the opener after which In Elegance, Buried at Sea and Early Grave followed. The band performed a new track from their upcoming album, yet to be released, The Here and Now, before they finished up with Hollow Crown and We’re All Alone. The energy of the fans seemed to be draining as the atmospheric levels did drop slightly towards the end but the band had no doubts that their encore would raise the roof. Follow the Water drew proceedings in the Academy to a lively end (in a similar way Bury Tomorrow managed a week beforehand).

Architects, whilst perhaps living in the shadow of more famous hardcore/metal acts such as Bring Me The Horizon, Norma Jean and I Killed The Prom Queen, but their fan base is one of astonishing amounts. Where they do beat some of their competition off, is that they can draw in an audience of a wider age range – tonight there were more than just teenagers packed into the Academy.

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