A freezing cold night in the heart of Glasgow city appeared the norm for a January gig, yet within minutes of stepping into the front doors of the O2 Academy an unusual mist of scorching hot air overwhelmed the entire venue.
Inside, a truly sweaty audience awaited American pop-punk heroes All Time Low to grace the stage. Once again the four piece secured another performance at the Academy, however this time around the group have lined up two monumental sold-out nights in a row, with the first selling out in an extraordinary time scale of five minutes. A very special show for the band indeed and in fact the first date of the whole UK tour in which All Time Low are promoting their most recent record ‘Dirty Work’.
Whilst the lights dimmed in the venue, the adrenaline effectively kicked in as the crowd began to nervously twitch at the sight of a band member or two from the side of the stage. Red and blue spotlights revolved around the backdrop and an array of ear-piercing sirens surrounded the former art deco cinema building from wall-to-wall. It easily could have been one of the loudest introductions to ever witness, and even more specifically if you were standing in the front row.
Exuberant teenage fans added to the loud audio by screaming for dear life as frontman Alex Gaskarth and co. entered the stage. The band launched straight into an electrifying performance of latest single ‘Time-Bomb’ illustrating a more perfected and produced sound direction for All Time Low, similarly heard in the following track ‘Forget About It’. Both songs showcased the groups maturer side with their latest work, however comprehending this, the band did not hesitate to adopt their usual risque language onstage shortly afterwards as they decided to display some slightly naughty words on the LED light box behind them which was predominantly there to form the initials of All Time Low.
Preceding on with the show, the group introduced a few older songs into their set such as ‘Coffee Shop Soundtrack’ and ‘Six Feet Under The Stars’ which both received a generous amount of appreciation from the crowd.
By this point in the night it was notable that a majority of the performance was curated with mischievous banter from Gaskarth and bandmate Guitarist Jack Barakat as they regularly conversed inbetween songs. Only moments before the group performed major hit ‘Lost In Stereo’ Barakat decided to shout to a member of the audience in his American twang “Hey, you’re crowdsurfing and we’re not even playing a song dude” which furthermore provoked the Guitarist to invite the crowdsurfer onstage with him, evidently not a part of their planned performance. After much encouragement from the band, the crowdsurfer eventually obliged and climbed up onto the Academy stage with All Time Low. In a joking demeanor, Barakat decided to pretend ‘fight’ with the fan, which consequently sparked endless laughter from the crowd.
All Time Low completed their impressive 60 minute set with crowd favourites ‘Weightless’ and ‘Dear Maria, Count Me In’ successfully closing the show on a high note. The four piece without a doubt lived up to expectations with their live performance, delivering all of their well-known hits amongst a few earlier tracks for loyal fans and providing an ample amount of priceless entertainment, thus achieving a more than phenomenal show for the first date of their headlining tour.
(Photos by Nicola Sharkey – www.nicolasharkeyphotography.com)