It’s been a whirlwind of a year for the Newcastle pop-punk band.
In the last twelve months they’ve released two singles and a split EP with Wayside Story, they’ve opened for bands like Seaway, Milestones and Trash Boat, as well as having a line-up change and spending a week at Steel City in Sheffield to record their upcoming EP set to be released next year.
So how do you end a year like that? Duh, have a headline Christmas show in your hometown. Or rather your second annual Christmas show. Seems fitting.
The show took place at Riverside, a 650-capacity venue, which can be seen as a bit of a risk for an upcoming pop-punk band but after seeing the amount of people there and the reaction they received during their performance there was nothing to worry about.
A bigger venue meant a higher production value, in comparison to shows seen at Eiger Music Studios and Jumpin’ Jacks Better Days decided to go all out with lights, smoke machines and, of course, the most over-the-top Christmas decorations possible, including a blow-up Santa in the background.
With any huge show there are going to be a few hiccups. Better Days were trying out backing tracks that would allow songs to blend in with each other but unfortunately the tracks stopped working during the first song. However, this was probably for the best. (Let me explain). You see there are two different types of artists out there; ones who really struggle when something goes wrong at a live show and they let it ruin the performance, and ones who are professional and carry on regardless. Better Days did the latter.
They stood around for a minute or two laughing and talking amongst themselves as they tried to see if they can get the tracks working, joked with the audience about it and then once coming to the conclusion that it wasn’t going to work carried on with the show. It just shows their level of professionalism, star quality and stage presence.
Now onto the show itself. Wow. Well done lads, you really put together an incredible show. This is hands down the best live show I’ve seen from you guys…so far.
Their headline show had a setlist of 11 songs which included a sneak peek of songs likely to be featured on the upcoming album. (Side note, a personal favourite probably has to be Tired Bones Weak Minds).
They opened the show with a reworked version of Thick Skin and then going straight into Woebegone, another new song from them which I also look forward to being officially released. We also got to hear the newer versions of This House, Worthless and A Lesson In Struggling to Cope, a way to show off the chemistry within the new line-up.
Of course, it wouldn’t be a Christmas show without a Christmas song, we got to hear their version of Last Christmas which had only been heard acoustically at this point. And, if you listen carefully, you can hear Michael dying in the background as Graeme says “Merry Christmas.”
This is also where Headway was played live for the first time which will go down as the tear-jerker of the night.
They finished the show with fan favourite, 12.07.15, a great way to end the show.
Congratulations on the show guys. You’ve had an incredible year and you finished it off in the best way possible. I wish you all of the best in 2018, it’s going to be your year. I just know it.
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