You know when you go to a show that’s just so good that you literally can’t stop talking about it, and listening to the band afterwards? Yeah, that.
Atreyu was actually one of the very first metal bands I ever saw. I’d been to a few pop concerts and I’d been listening to rock and metal since the early 2000s, but Give It A Name 2006 in Manchester was my very first actual rock show. My cousin invited me at the last minute to the second day as his friend didn’t want to attend the second date, and I jumped at the chance because the lineup featured Atreyu along with a couple of other bands I was a fan of. I’d been listening to a hell of a lot of their new (!) album A Deathgrip On Yesterday at the time so they were one of the bands I was most keen to see, if not the most keen. I left the festival with an unbridled joy about the fact they played Her Portrait In Black, along with a massive need to see them again on their own headline tour because not only was this band releasing some seriously killer music, they also backed it up with an incredible live performance. I don’t really recall any of the other sets that night, but Atreyu truly left a massive impression on me.
I’ve seen Atreyu many times over the years and every time I see them, I just can’t help but want more. I’m greedy; what can I say? Which brings me to their most recent sold out Manchester show. Although I watched and loved their Carry The Fire livestream, this was going to be my first “proper” time seeing them with Brandon as frontman, so I was intrigued to see the change in dynamics – it’s of course different performing to a crowd rather than a camera, as a good performer reacts and tweaks their delivery in reaction to a live audience. I knew the performance would be a little different, of course, but I had absolute faith that they would deliver. And you know what? Atreyu are stronger than they’ve ever been, and this was the best Atreyu show I have seen as a result.
Coming onstage to Sandstorm by Darude, there was already a great energy in the room as the five piece took to the stage and launched into one of their newer songs, Drowning. With a massive chorus and just as massive riffs, this is what Atreyu do best, and you could really see how much they were enjoying themselves. Genuinely, it felt like Brandon had always been the band’s frontman because the way he interacted with the crowd and completely owned the stage (as well as the barrier and even the whole crowd area when he just walked into the crowd later on in the set!) was so natural.
My first big highlight of the set was when they performed (i). Strong lyrics and a passionate performance, it was no wonder that the guys were told this would be a song that would go down a storm in the UK because it absolutely did. Atreyu are really pumping out some bangers lately and it’s making me really excited to hear their upcoming album.
When Atreyu played their livestream, for Bleeding Mascara they played musical chairs with the band members, with bassist Porter exclusively screaming, drummer Kyle playing bass and Brandon moving back to the drums and performing his cleans from there like in the old days. You could see how much of a blast they had, and for the week or so leading up to this concert, I’d not shut up about how much I hoped they would do it at this show as well. So when I saw them switching their instruments up, I couldn’t help but grin from ear to ear – much like how the band also was for said performance at this show as well! When a band is having this much fun, you can’t help but feed off the good energy yourself.
Another highlight was Battle Drums. Interestingly, the band ditched the bass entirely for this one, and wielded two frontmen for this track. Brandon and Porter bounced nicely off one another, and it felt like a treat to hear them include this song in the set because of it being a collaborative song with another artist (Kayzo). It seems like a song destined to be performed live though, so it makes total sense for them to play it. The slightly heavier approach they take in a live environment is killer.
The encore was an interesting one, yet somehow it worked. With guitarist Dan coming out and playing saxophone for a medley of songs (particularly enjoyed Never Gonna Give You Up!) the rest of the band returned to play a cover of Whitney Houston’s I Wanna Dance With Somebody, which ended the whole performance on a really fun note. It’s always great being in a room full of metalheads singing along to a bit of a bit of cheesy pop.
This night more than proved that Atreyu are unstoppable. I’ve been to some incredible shows of theirs over the years, but none of them quite measured up to this one. Atreyu are the best they have ever been, and I for one am very excited about what the future holds for this incredible band.
