The Birdbox

Better Days With… Neck Deep

We’re now a year into the pandemic which also means a whole year without attending a gig. Towards the end of 2020, I decided to take a look back at some memories of live shows with a few of my favourite bands. Well I enjoyed writing them and at least a few of you said you enjoyed reading them so I’m bringing it back for season 2! Here’s a look back at better days with Neck Deep.

Slam Dunk Festival 2015 & 2000 Trees Festival 2016

By 2015, Neck Deep were already tipped to be the next big thing in Pop-punk and their Slam Dunk set certainly backed up those claims. They were greeted by a packed crowd in front of the main stage in Hatfield to play songs from the EPs, ‘Wishful Thinking’ and even a couple from their upcoming album ‘Life’s Not Out To Get You’. At one point, two pits became one odd figure of eight circle pit in an act of punk unity, the kind of energy that would be matched the following year.

Neck Deep packed their 2000 Trees setlist with titles from ‘Life’s Not Out To Get You’. Songs like ‘Kali Ma’ and ‘Serpents’ had the crowd climbing all over each other while the band flew around the stage during a sunny afternoon in the Cotswold countryside.

Kentish Town Forum – 2016

Prior to their appearance at 2000 Trees, Neck Deep circled the globe on a world tour with State Champs. Their stop at London Forum in Kentish Town went is one of my most memorable gig experiences, not just because of the night long ‘pogoing’ and angry finger pointing on the front row, not just because of the MASSIVE circle pit for support band, Creeper, but also because of some pre-gig moments.

We dined at the famous golden arches where we were given some fine tableside entertainment. It was all kicking off between a group of locals with accusations being made regarding the whereabouts of a stolen phone charger. The accused groups defence tactic was to interrupt their accuser with their rendition of 50 cent’s ‘Candy Shop’. They persevered for about half an hour but it seemed they were successful in the end.

When the time came to start queuing, we joked about giving our small collective of gig goers a name. “The Ragamuffins” was the most stupid one to be suggested and so alas, 5 years on, it is still the adopted name of our collective and now the name given to our brand new podcast! (link below, you know you want to).

Brixton Academy

After the huge success of ‘Life’s Not Out To Get You’, Neck Deep released ‘The Peace And The Panic’ and went on a headline tour of the same name. Their show at Brixton Academy was their biggest UK show to date and they made the most of it with some big stage production including fire, sparks and confetti. It was obvious how popular the song ‘In Bloom’ had become as you could barely hear the band for the noise of the crowd singing along. Support came from Real Friends and it really was a great day.

Got any Neck Deep memories you want to share? Let me know over on twitter or Instagram. You can also hear more gig memories from Myself, Alex and James on episode 4 of The Ragamuffin Music Podcast.

Better Days With… Trash Boat

We’re now a year into the pandemic which also means a whole year without attending a gig. Towards the end of 2020, I decided to take a look back at some memories of live shows with a few of my favourite bands. Well I enjoyed writing them and at least a few of you said you enjoyed reading them so I’ve brought it back for season 2! Here’s a look back at better days with Trash Boat.

2000 Trees Festival – 2016

I don’t remember when I first listened to Trash Boat but the release of their incredible debut album ‘Nothing I Write You Can Change What You’ve Been Through’ had me incredibly excited to see them live for the first time at 2000 Trees. A modest crowd within the Cave tent quickly grew as TB played an energetic set made up mostly of songs from the new album but with a couple from earlier EPs thrown in for good measure. ‘Eleven’ triggered a circle pit fast enough to trigger a circle pit fast enough to kick up dust and an ensuing mosh pit aggressive enough to cause the loss of my favourite vans vans snapback. Worth it though!

Slam Dunk & Reading Festival – 2018

Much like myself, Trash Boat love a festival, so there were a few opportunities to see them in summer 2018. The crowd at Slam Dunk Midlands was absolutely heaving and security had to cut off access to The Signature brew stage before the set had even started. The crowd response to songs from their now well established album was incredible causing my arms to be aching by the end from holding up the endless procession of crowdsurfers. New single ‘Shade’ from an upcoming album had been very well received and spawned mosh pits bordering on violent mid way through the set.

At big festivals, it can sometimes be a struggle to get up and out of your tent at a decent time but the struggle is eased when you have a good reason to be up. Trash Boat were that reason in 2018 when they opened up the main stage. We got a couple of morning cans in then made the pilgrimage over to the main stage by midday. The crowd were tame compared to usual Trash Boat shows but this was understandable as it was still early and I expect many of them were experiencing them for the first time as is often the way when a smaller band gets a main stage slot. The new album was out by now and songs like ‘Old Soul’ sounded massive on a big stage and there were still a couple of small pits for ‘Shade’. This certainly isn’t my favourite Trash Boat set but there’s an odd feeling of parent like pride when seeing one of your favourite bands play main stage Reading & Leeds.

Supporting Every Band Ever

Trash Boat’s sound kind mainly comprises of Pop-Punk but it’s obvious there’s an influence from the heavier/hardcore scene there too which lends them well to basically any lineup. In the past they have supported The Wonder Years, As It Is, and Don Broco as well as some heavier bands like Beartooth and While She Sleeps. I remember getting through the doors just as they kicked off ‘How Selfish I Seem’ when they supported Beartooth in 2016. A small group were moshing throughout what felt like a tailored fast, aggressive set (it was Beartooth’s aggressive tour after all) and some Beartooth fans couldn’t resist getting involved.

It was a similar story when supporting While She Sleeps in 2019 but this time they had songs like ‘Controlled Burn’ and ‘Nothing New’ in their armoury as well. Aided by the large ceiling of The Roundhouse, this was probably the best I’ve heard them.

Download Festival – 2019

Trash Boat’s set at download in 2019 stands out mostly due to someone who isn’t even in the band. Dan ‘Soupy’ Campbell from The Wonder Years actually produced ‘Nothing I Write You Can Change What You’ve Been Through’ and also features on the opening track ‘Strangers’. The Wonder Years were due to play the same stage later in the day but, even though we kinda knew it would be coming, it was still incredible to see Soupy come on stage and gave it everything before calmly putting his glasses back on as he walked off stage.

Have any Trash Boat memories you want to share? Let me know them over on twitter or Instagram where you will also find some photos and videos from the shows mentioned here.

You may also want to check out the latest episode of The Ragamuffin Music Podcast where James, Alex and I talked about some of our favourite gig memories.

Better Days With… Boston Manor

We’re now a year into the pandemic which also means a whole year without attending a gig. Towards the end of 2020, I decided to take a look back at some memories of live shows with a few of my favourite bands. Well I enjoyed writing them and at least a few of you said you enjoyed reading them so I’ve brought it back for season 2! Here’s a look back at better days with Boston Manor.

London – 2016

Boston Manor have done well to quickly develop an interesting and fairly unique sound although there was a time when they were undeniably branded with the now seemingly derogatory label of pop-punk. In 2016 they found themselves on the same bill as Knuckle Puck and Seaway for a tour of the UK and Europe. The gritty basement bar feel of The Underworld in Camden was a great setting for the fast and aggressive songs from BM’s Driftwood and Saudade EPs and they certainly won over plenty of new fans ready for the release of their debut album ‘Be Nothing’ later that year.

Slam Dunk & Swindon – 2017

The following year, Boston Manor’s busy touring schedule included a stop at Slam Dunk Festival. The slippery beer soaked floor of the Birmingham NEC’s food hall made for treacherous mosh pit conditions with many fans, myself included, sliding around to songs from the new album. But these weren’t the only challenging pits of that week.

Only days before the Slam Dunk weekend they stopped by Level 3 in Swindon for a warm-up show with support coming from Casey. With Swindon being relatively local to me, Level 3 is a venue I’ve visited a few times and it has an interesting layout to say the least. It is situated in what is basically a pub basement and the main area in front of the barrierless stage is on a small raised platform. This combined with the rowdiness of a typical Boston Manor show made for a lot of time spent catching crowdsurfers and attempting to prevent overenthusiastic pit – warriors from launching themselves down the steps and into the shadow realm. Despite this, I’ve enjoyed every show I’ve been to at Level 3 with this Boston Manor show probably being my favourite.

Reading Festival – 2019

A second album ‘Welcome to the Neighbourhood’ saw the boys from Blackpool grow out of the pop-punk scene as they began to develop more of a dark/alternative sound. This propelled them into larger slots on festival lineups including playing in the early afternoon on Reading’s BBC Radio 1 stage. They had a captivated tent bouncing along in the August heat to new songs such as ‘Flowers in Your Dustbin’ and fan favourite ‘Halo’ while frontman, Henry, clambered over the crowd and sailed across them deep into the tent. It’s great to see how much they’ve grown and I can’t wait to eventually experience songs from ‘GLUE’ live.

Have any Boston Manor memories? Let me know on Instagram. You can also find some extra photos and videos from these shows there.

Check out episode 4 of The Ragamuffin Music Podcast to hear more gig memories from myself, James and Alex