As December Falls
By the time we get to new single 'Anymore', anyone who wasn't already a fan has surely been converted.
Nottingham post-punk emo rock band As December Falls flew back to the UK last month following their gruelling, yet triumphant, 24-date US tour opening for Californian glam-metal outfit Black Veil Brides. On Friday night they returned to the Adrian Flux Waterfront for a rearranged headlining show, after their previously scheduled visit in March had to be cancelled at short notice due to illness. As I arrived at the venue, a little under half an hour before doors were due to open, the queues were already snaking back as far as the pavement onto King Street. Such is the following that this band has attracted since first playing in Norwich at the B2 in November 2021. Since then, they have returned to The Waterfront as headliners in 2024, and supported RØRY at the Nick Rayns LCR in March last year.
The band are promoting their fourth album, Everything's On Fire But I'm Fine, which, once again, was released without the backing or help of any record label, in keeping with their fiercely stubborn sense of musical independence. It is a message which is repeated to the fans, and reinforced towards the end of the gig, with a sobering reminder that, for a self-supporting band like As December Falls, each T-shirt sold at the merch desk earns them the same amount of money as they receive from 10,000 Spotify streams.
And it is the new album that features extensively in the setlist, beginning with 'Angry Cry', a powerful reminder that almost everyone in life sometimes reaches a breaking point where the only thing left to do is cry. 'Everything's On Fire But I'm Fine' offers similar reassurance, 'For The Plot' is offered up as an ideal revenge song, and 'Ready Set Go' is delivered with the chance to “scream and make some noise”. Not that this young crowd needed to be asked twice – the energy in the room is immense, and a huge mosh circle opens up when 'Carousel' (from 2023's Join The Club album) is performed. Lead vocalist Bethany Hunter, guitarist Ande Hunter, bass player Timmy Francis, and drummer Lukas James keep the crowd in the palms of their hands as they continue the energy and pace with ‘Ready Set Go’ and ‘Bathroom Floor’. By the time we get to new single 'Anymore', anyone who wasn't already a fan has surely been converted, and we are all 'welcomed to the fucking family!'
Towards the end of the set the audience are given the choice of a traditional walk-on, walk-off, with protracted clapping and cheering, single-song encore, or a quick 'lights-off-lights-on' pretend exit, and a ‘return’ to the stage for a a two-song finish. Not surprisingly, the audience plump for the latter, and we are treated to a blinding version of 'Ride', the song that first got me into As December Falls back in 2019 with the release of the band's eponymous debut album. It is followed by one final song from 'Everything's On Fire But I'm Fine', the powerful and life-affirming 'Therapy'.
Opening support came from Brighton-based Eville, with their catchy pop-heavy blend of nu-metal and rap, occasionally like a cross between Prodigy and Enter Skikari. Led by the striking Eva Sheldrake on vocals and guitar, and supported by Jude Richards on guitar and Milo Hemsley on drums, the band’s blend of massive choruses and gutteral screaming is served up with a healthy helping of defiance, and some impassioned songs about empowerment and self-control. Check out their 'BR4T MBL' EP, and give them a quick listen. I think you will be impressed.
The months of July and August are always notoriously sparse when it comes to touring bands visiting the city – it is festival season, and most acts are committed to those. I suppose we should be grateful that this gig did not get pencilled in for last Friday, when heat-wave temperatures hit the mid thirties in Norfolk. It was certainly still warm inside the Waterfront for this re-arranged date from As December Falls, and this gig will help keep the fires burning in our musical souls until the outdoor events subside, and the Autumn schedules kick in again in September, and until beyond when December falls.
