Tonight’s sold out show sees the return of London based Young Guns. After having spent a large portion of the last year stateside, the chance to hear songs off recent album ‘Ones and Zeros’ has brought their fan base out in force. They bring with them two home grown talents, in the form of Vukovi and Boy Jumps Ship.
View more photos here.
First up are Scottish band Vukovi who play their own blend of pop-rock. Front woman Janine Shilstone takes center stage dancing around and seemingly having the time of her life in front of a largely static audience. An impromptu cover of ‘Uptown Funk’ helps Shilstone and Vukovi win over the crowd, with the room joining in with claps, “woo”’s and “hey”’s. Guitarist Hamish Reilly stands out musically, with the upbeat twang of his guitar highlighting each song. Talking of songs, Vukovi are clearly a band who have a lot of love for music, with ‘Limp Bizkit’ and ‘Boy George’ included on tonight’s setlist, before they finish on ‘Target Practice’. (3/5)
View more photos here.
Next up are Geordie quartet Boy Jumps Ship who open with the catchy ‘Make You Proud’ with the hook, “Tell all your friends we’re not scared / We’ll sleep when we’re dead” etching itself into brains throughout the room. The crowd are definitely here for tonight’s headliners as most seem unfamiliar with Boy Jumps Ship, but that doesn’t stop vocalist Si Todd and the rest of the band putting their all into the performance. In a scene full to the brim of alt rock bands, it would have been easy for Boy Jumps Ship to melt into the background, but the use of gang vocals help propel the band past “run-of-the-mill” and into something quite memorable. During new song, ‘Turn Up The Radio’, they get the audience clapping and joining in. Towards the end of the set, the room is noticeably fuller and about 20 degrees warmer as more and more people file in to watch the highly anticipated main act. Boy Jumps Ship received a warm reception and have definitely gained a shed load of new fans in the process. (3/5)
View more photos here.
Finally, the band this sold-out crowd have been waiting for, Young Guns take to the stage after arguably a quite traumatic few days. For those unfamiliar, the band had tens of thousands of pounds worth of possessions stolen from their van while in Leeds. As soon as they open with ‘Rising Up’, the room somehow gets more sweaty, with the crowd going understandably crazy for the London lads who haven’t graced a Nottingham stage in quite some time. The set is littered with new songs off recent album ‘Ones And Zeros’ such as ‘Memento Mori’ as well as old fan favourites. Vocalist Gustav Wood and bassist Simon Mitchell work the whole stage constantly, making sure those on the edges of the barrier have just as much fun as those front and centre.
During ‘Infinity’, they pop off a few bars of Katy Perry’s ‘Firework’ which gets the crowd going nuts. Old favourite ‘Winter Kiss’ gets everyone bouncing with arms flailing in the air. I’ve seen Young Guns a few times and have never been very impressed, but tonight the band ooze confidence and energy. Going back to the roots ‘Daughter Of The Sea’ gets the crowd and the band going wild, embracing just how far Young Guns have come since that first track.
View more photos here.
The fact that Wood can have a huge grin on his face just moments after a mention of the van incident is a testament to how much this band love what they do, pulling together and enjoying every second of being on stage, reminding themselves and the sold out crowd why they choose to put their whole lives in a van and travel up and down the country. They end on a double-whammy high of ‘I Want Out’ and set closer ‘Bones’. (4/5)
(3.5/5)
Words and photos by Carrie-Anne Pollard.
