Better Days With… While She Sleeps

My intention when I first started this blog back in January was to use it as a space to write about my first hand experience of the many gigs and festivals I had planned for the year ahead. It would act like a kind of diary to look back on with friends at the end of the year and in years to come to reflect on some great times. Obviously we haven’t been able to do that this year but in these dark, gigless days I feel this would be great opportunity to do what The Birdbox was made for and think back on memories of seeing some of my favourite bands and, in some cases, the journey that they have been on. Let’s look back at better days with While She Sleeps.

Slam Dunk Festival – 2015

I was a fan of While She Sleeps long before I had the opportunity of seeing them live. I remember finding it hilarious that, due to it being promoted by (I think) radio 1’s rock show, their song ‘Seven Hills’ was played regularly on daytime radio and always sparked an onslaught of angry texts from listeners dismissing it as “just noise”. Back at Butserfest in 2012 I entered a tombola run by Small Town Records where I won a copy of ‘The North Stands For Nothing’ as well as a T-shirt. Result!

I had to wait until Slam Dunk 2015 to finally experience them live and it was well worth the wait! Their set was the rowdiest of the day as we were engulfed by circle pits and a wall of death while band members crowdsurfed with their guitars. Hearing ‘Brainwashed’ live for the first time is a feeling that sticks with me to this day.

Oxford – The Bullingdon

I’ve seen Sleeps in Oxford on a few occasions and of course it goes without saying that they tore it apart every time but there’s one show I will never forget.

In March of 2016, they left Sheffield to embark on a tour of some very small UK club venues. The experience of seeing them at The Bullingdon in Oxford was unforgettable. A 300 capacity room with no barrier was absolute chaos. We were lucky enough to meet all members of the band afterwards and take some unintentionally unflattering selfies with them. (you can see these on instagram: the__birdbox)

2000 Trees Festival – 2016

A few months after the Bullingdon show, While She Sleeps descended on the Cheltenham countryside to commit atrocities on The Cave stage at 2000 Trees. Sleeps always inspire a highly energetic crowd but what happened here was very unexpected. The band managed to conjure a gigantic circle pit surrounding the whole tent. The route went across the front of the stage, out the left side of the tent and then all the way around the back before finally returning to the tent on the right. Being overweight, unfit and having a belly full of fireball whisky, one lap was enough for me.

London – The Roundhouse & Brixton Academy

As I mentioned in better days with The Wonder Years, days out don’t come much better than exploring London followed by an evening gig. It is even better though when that gig is a While She Sleeps one on the release day (March 1st 2019) of their new album ‘So What? ‘. The day was made better still by support from Trash Boat and Stray From The Path (with a guest appearance from Sam Carter of Architects) and the addition of a live choir during the headline set. Playing at such an iconic venue was a huge step in the Sheffield band’s career that they would do well to top. But they did! They sold out the legendary Brixton academy in January 2020 to cap off a fantastic album cycle for ‘So What?’

Check out Instagram to see footage of some of these memories and while you’re there, why not let me know yours?

Better Days With… The Wonder Years

My intention when I first started this blog back in January was to use it as a space to write about my first hand experience of the many gigs and festivals I had planned for the year ahead. It would act like a kind of diary to look back on with friends at the end of the year and in years to come to reflect on some great times. Obviously we haven’t been able to do that this year but in these dark, gigless days I feel this would be great opportunity to do what The Birdbox was made for and think back on memories of seeing some of my favourite bands and, in some cases, the journey that they have been on. Let’s look back at better days with The Wonder Years.

Slam Dunk Festival 2015

Although The Wonder Years have been around for well over a decade now, it wasn’t actually until 2015 that I really gave them a proper chance and finally let them enter my heart. I started listening to them in the lead up to Slam Dunk festival and I really fell for their emotive brand of pop-punk when they headlined the Macbeth footwear stage. It was clear how passionate their fans were as they launched themselves off lamp-posts to crowdsurf and stood on a bus stop at the back to get a clear view. There were even shoes being flung from the stage to add to the chaos.

Birmingham 2017

In February of 2017 I went to what turned out to be one of my favourite ever gigs. Not only did The Wonder Years put on a magnificent headline show but every support act was brilliant. Tiny Moving Parts opened with an enthusiastically energetic set, Trash Boat (who had quickly become one of my favourite bands) were great and Soupy (TWY) did his part in ‘Strangers’ live which was magical. Finally I was introduced to PUP who I now also love. The cherry on the top of the cake was getting hold of a guitar pick at the end of the show.

The Wonder Years With Support From The Wonder Years – Bristol 2018

A year on from their last UK tour, The Wonder Years returned with a new album (Sister Cities) to play. When their support act pulled out with short notice, TWY elected to fill the gap with a second set of their own. They essentially became their own support act, doing an acoustic set as a warm up for the main full band set. It felt very unique and went down an absolute treat.

London 2019

Something I miss about going to gigs is exploring the city beforehand and that’s exactly what we did in February 2019. The afternoon was spent promenading along Tower Bridge and the nearby docks before heading over to Troxy for a The Wonder Years/Mayday Parade co-headline. Seeing the number of people uniformed in Mayday Parade merch had me questioning whether the crowd would be up for TWY but I was quickly proven wrong as the atmosphere was great. I even collected another guitar pick. The opportunity to see Movements in support was an extra bonus.

Download Festival 2019

Although it was only a short one, I associate their set on the Avalanche stage with one of the best back to back runs of artists I’ve seen. Roam, Trash Boat (with another feature from Soupy) Nothing, Nowhere and finally The Wonder Years before migrating over to the main stage for Slipknot was an unforgettable afternoon.

Have any memories of The Wonder Years? Let me know on Instagram where you can also find some extra TWY content.

Better Days With… Don Broco

My intention when I first started this blog back in January was to use it as a space to write about my first hand experience of the many gigs and festivals I had planned for the year ahead. It would act like a kind of diary to look back on with friends at the end of the year and in years to come to reflect on some great times. Obviously we haven’t been able to do that this year but in these dark, gigless days, I feel this would be great opportunity to do what The Birdbox was made for and think back on memories of seeing some of my favourite bands and, in some cases, the journey that they have been on. Let’s look back at better days with Don Broco.

To many Don Broco may seem like a fairly new band but they’ve actually been around quite a while now! I first became a fan when I was around 14 or 15 years old (about 2009/2010). A school friend showed me the very tongue in cheek video for the song ‘thug workout’ and the ‘Big Fat Smile’ EP was instantly semi-legitimately downloaded (we were unemployed teenagers alright, this was how things were). It wasn’t until 2012 when I finally saw them live for the first time.

Butserfest 2012

Butserfest was a small one day festival nearish Southampton clearly aimed at young people due to it’s gimmick that alcohol and drugs were banned. I know this sounds lame but when you are 16 and your Mother is a worrier, this was a perfect selling point in my pitch to convince her to allow me to go to my first ever festival. And to be honest, it was a very well run festival and at only £20 for the whole day, you can’t really complain. Broco were about halfway up the bill on a main stage headlined by Kids In Glass Houses. I think this show came just a week before their debut album ‘Priorities’ dropped so there were a couple of songs from that album mixed in with a few from ‘Big Fat Smile’ and of course ‘Thug Workout’ creating a summoning circle for the push up squad in the pit. The walk, a well choreographed dance to priorities, was a standout moment and is still occasionally part of their live shows now. (Heads up: Butserfest is going to get a few mentions in this series).

A Broco Cup

I’ve seen Don Broco in Oxford quite a few times but April 2013 stands out to me for a few reasons. Firstly because I was evidently very excited to see that they are human enough to shop at Tesco on Cowley Road (see below). Secondly because the support acts were fantastic! Decade opened the evening and I have gone on to see them again several times and experiencing Frank Carter live for the first time with his new project ‘Pure Love’ was quite something. Don Broco put on a great show as they do and then insisted on hosting a small signing afterwards against the will of security who wanted us out. I got the guys to sign the only thing I had to hand; a very brittle plastic cup from the bar. Oh how we laughed. Good times.

A Shit Show

Admittedly I lost interest in Don Broco for a short amount of time. The ‘Automatic’ album stage didn’t interest me much as I was still in that stingy “pop music is shite” stage of my late adolescence. Despite this, I still made efforts to see them at a couple of Slam Dunk festivals but it wasn’t until their most recent album ‘Technology’ was released that my love for DB was reborn and I was very excited to see them once again in Oxford in 2018. After enduring a support set from Yungblud (not a fan personally) it was time to wait for the main event. It was when we were still waiting an hour later that I started to think something was wrong. The band came out on stage and it was Si who had to inform us that the stickiness of the floor was not caused by the usual spilt beer but infact was caused by a malfunctioning toilet which had been spilling it’s contents into the main room throughout the evening. “There is a genuine chance you are currently standing in faeces” is quite frankly not my favourite lyric but it’s unfortunately all we got. The contents of the toilet were not the only thing to be evacuated as we were all asked to leave. Unfortunately, we couldn’t make the rescheduled dates.

Wemberleey

In February 2019, Don Broco headlined Wembley Arena. It feels crazy saying that after first seeing them at small festivals and in the upstairs rooms of O2 Academys but it’s been a steady rise to this point. I’d last seen them late in the evening on the Radio 1 stage at Reading Festival as the first part of a Broco x Slaves sweat fest double team so it made a surprisingly pleasant change to view the ensuing madness from a higher vantage point this time. Neck Deep smashed it as supports and Broco themselves made playing shows this size seem perfectly natural to them. They even snuck Thug Workout into the set after all these years! I was skeptical as to whether I would enjoy being seated but it was incredibly satisfying watching the circle pits spin and swirl like a tumble dryer in a tornado.

Don Broco consistently put on fun, energetic shows no matter the size of the room. It’s been quite the journey seeing them play tiny rooms when they dressed exclusively in the Topman summer 2010 range to smashing headline sets at Wembley. Here’s hoping Slam Dunk can go ahead next year so we can see them headline there next.

Head over to Instagram to see some photos from these shows and while you’re there, let me know your favourite Don Broco memories. Also, make sure you follow for more ‘better days’ content next week.

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