Kids in Glass Houses // UEA - 02.10.11

What exactly is it that makes a good gig? The atmosphere, the energy or simply the music? While standing in the full UEA, watching the events of the night roll out I have decided that if you want all three guaranteed, go to a Kids In Glass Houses gig.

The show kicks off on this unusually warm evening with the pop-punk tunes of Save Your Breath. Unbelievably I’d never heard them before but as soon as they launched into their short but sweet set, I knew I had found myself a new band to listen to. Single ‘Stay Young’ goes down a treat with the already hyped crowd and it seems this hype has managed to reach the musicians, as the band (minus the drummer) throw themselves around stage with enough energy to light a small hamlet.

Next on the agenda tonight is Blitz Kids and their brutal force of clear cut rock songs with a shed load of passion to boot. Playing mostly newer songs from their album ‘Vagrants & Vagabonds’ the band don’t waste any time in making the crowd feel involved and getting them off their feet. ‘Story’ is met with a great response and many in the crowd sing along, however I can’t help but feel a little disappointed by the fact Kids In Glass Houses’ Aled didn’t make an appearance to fulfil his roll on the single. Despite this, the boys play an almost faultless set and leave having definitely gained fans.

Main supports Francesqa walk onto the stage in the now even more packed room to the sound of screams of fans possibly gained from the last time they played in our fine city. Jumping straight into a new song I didn’t manage to catch the name of, the guys onstage seem calm despite their already very high powered performance. They blaze through their short set, on the way playing crowd favourite ‘Ghosts’, with high energy and a talent for playing great pop-rock songs with a very melodic touch that sets them way ahead of many up and coming UK bands around at the moment. Finishing with the beautiful and almost haunting October, the Oxford boys leave those in the audience well warmed up and in anticipation for the headliners.

As I already mentioned earlier, if you want an all round fantastic gig, come and see Kids In Glass Houses. The band manage to seamlessly bring sheer talent, great showmanship and an electric atmosphere with them into any space they play in. The UEA tonight is no exception. The five of them stride onstage to an uproar of screams and cheers from the ecstatic audience. The band thunder into new album title track ‘In Gold Blood’ and the room falls into madness as almost the entire crowd are up on their feet, singing along religiously. A selection of old and new songs including pop hit ‘Undercover Lover’ and new track ‘Teenage Wonderland’ are blasted out and neither crowd nor band falter once. The sheer energy and performance onstage is what sets this band apart from many other UK bands at the moment. Every time I see them they have upped their song choices and performance level by a couple of notches. The general atmosphere here tonight can only be described as electric and this electricity is only upped when the lights go down to reveal a great expanse of UV paint splattered across nearly every surface of the stage, band and all. They storm through the epic ‘Animals’ as the crowd break out yet again into a crazy expanse of movement. Aled & co. vacate the stage momentarily before returning to yet again blow away the entire room with what is one of the stand-out songs on new album: ‘Black Crush’. The quintet finish off their power-charged set with sing-along crowd favourite ‘Matters At All’ and the audience, seizing their last chance of the night to go mental, do so.

5/5 Ellie Smith