Australian metalcore band The Amity Affliction concluded their UK tour in Norwich last night (10/12/2016) with a very impressive send off.
The night opened with support from Wage War, a metalcore four piece from Florida. After an inspirational speech about mental health, the only time he took a break from running around the Waterfront’s stage, lead singer Briton Bond dedicated the song ‘Twenty One’ to anyone struggling with depression, to which the crowd responded by opening one of the largest circle pits of the night.
Following on from Wage War, who undeniably got the crowd warmed up, were Stray From The Path, who took the stage opening with Outbreak. The energy of vocalist Drew’s stage presence was contagious, the audience screaming the chorus back to the band. Drew finished the set by standing in the middle of the crowd, swinging from the ceiling as fans crowd-surfed around him.
Having never seen any of these bands before, to me Northlane’s set stood out most compared to the other support acts. Their stage presence was phenomenal with a very eerie vibe created by Tom’s and Craig’s creepy masks and the insane, psychedelic light show.
The Amity Affliction were welcomed onto the stage by a number of crowd-surfers almost falling onto the band as the fan’s screamed along with every line from songs such as ‘I bring the weather with me’, ‘The Weigh Down’ and the heart wrenching harmonies for ‘All Fucked Up’. During their encore, a massive circle pit opened up for ‘Pittsburgh’ and ‘Don’t lean on me’ before fittingly ending the UK leg of the This is heart break tour with the title song from the album, beach balls being thrown into the pit as crowd-surfers hurled themselves towards the stage.