Review by Tatiana Whybrow
Bringing festival season to a close, Gunnersville opened their doors to a three day event at Gunnersbury park, London. The concert itself was held in a large tent situated in the park, surrounded by small food vendors and park benches. The Sunday lineup consisted of the artists: Milk Teeth, As It Is, The Maine, Sundara Karma, Deaf Havana, Jimmy Eat World and headliners You Me At Six.
British punk rock trio Milk Teeth were first to kick off the Sunday afternoon, with their angsty tracks. Being the only female fronted band of the day, they set the bar high with great energy and gnarly tracks from their ‘Go Away’ EP, and more recent debut album ‘ Vile Child’.
British-American rock band, As It Is, were second taking to the Gunnersville stage with unbeatable energy. Lead singer, Patty, dancing throughout their entire set with various mic tosses, high kicks, and spins. Prior to ‘The Two Tongues: Screaming Salvation’ Patty asked the crowd to create a mosh pit as large as the tent - which may have been slightly unsuccessful - but the crowd obliged with a mosh pit as big as possible. The band also played other tracks from their recent album, The Great Depression, as well as a reimagined version of popular song: ‘The Question, The Answer’. Their set was finalised with ‘Boys Don’t Cry’, the crowd screaming the final lines of the song before they left the stage.
American rock band, The Maine, entered the stage with a giant red screens reading “You are watching a band called The Maine” for those unaware. Throughout their set, this switched between different messages, “Are you ok?. “Do people like me yet?”, “In this moment I could die with you” and “Sorry for the inconvenience, You Me At Six will be on soon” to name a few. The most notable part of their set, was the humorous notion of bringing on stage a crowd surfer - of which a man called Chris, obliged. Lead vocalist, John, had the crowd chant ‘Hello Chris’, and proceeded to ask him to sing part of the song. The audience gladly joined in with Chris, loudly singing along to every out of pitch note he sang. The energetic group dressed head to toe in white ended their set with iconic track, ‘Black Butterflies and Deja Vu”.
English indie rock band Sundara Karma played a lot of their well known tracks, 'She Said' and 'Flame' to which the crowd jumped around and sang along. Lead singer Oscar declared that they weren't "really a rock band", in comparison to the other bands on during the day, but the crowd's response was just as pleased to see them grace the stage. Their set is finalised with their regular closing track, ‘One Last Night On Earth’.
English alternative rock band Deaf Havana entered the stage, illuminated by their pink neon logo and balloons flying around the packed crowd. After just returning home from a large Asia and Australian tour, the band were setting off their first UK show back with a bang. ‘Mildred (Lost A Friend)’ and ‘Trigger’ prove to be popular among the continually growing crowd, a loud echoing of voices around the tent.
The highly anticipated, Jimmy Eat World were next to step on stage, bringing a set with both the old and new, both greeted by a euphoric crowd. You Me At Six guitarist, Chris Miller, joined the band on stage for ‘Hear You Me’ - an acoustic track greeted by lighters and phones in the air. Their set was ended on a high, the iconic ‘The Middle’ caused chaos among the crowd.
Headliners You Me At Six opened their two hour set with singles from first album - Take Off Your Colours - starting with their earliest single ‘Save It For The Bedroom’. Proceeding through ‘Gossip’, ‘Jealous Minds Alike’, and ‘Finders Keepers’ the crowd progressively get sweatier, and the buzz echoed around the packed tent. Moving into their following album ‘Hold Me Down’, ‘The Consequence’ brought out guest singer Sean Smith from The Black Out, warmly welcomed by the large crowd. As their set progressed to the later albums, Josh confessed in a speech prior to ‘Take On The World’, that he wouldn’t be here without the music, to which I’m certain many fans could relate with. His emotions through the track were noticeable, shedding a few tears as he sees the crowd raising their phones along to the slower piece. By this stage, the crowd has been smothered in confetti, and pyro has been flying up from the stage throughout their fiery set.
The show is nearing its end as tracks from their recent album ‘VI’ begin, starting with ‘Fast Forward’ that has the crowd crouching down and leaping into the air from Josh’s instruction. ‘Back Again’ and ‘Straight Into My Head’ were received with just as much high energy.
Finally, the show was taken to a close with newest single ‘What’s It Like’. The undeniably recognizable beat has the crowd off their feet, including singer Josh Franceschi who jumps from the stage into the crowd whilst pyro flies from the stage. Gunnersville is a festival to keep on your radar.
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