Rowan Bruce
Bristol’s best kept secret Hamartia opened the night with a confident mix of lilting, emotive melodies and immense breakdowns. Frontwoman Sophie Smith is a delight to see perform live, belting out her moving, passionate lyrics with ease and participating in some fantastic between-song banter, introducing one of the band’s tracks with “if you haven’t seen us before, you need to know that I love to trauma dump”. It would’ve been almost impossible to find a more appropriate opener for Blank Atlas than Hamartia, with their accessible songs that build up to heavier, alt-rock breakdowns alongside Sophie’s commanding voice and stage presence.
By far the heaviest band of the night, Cardiff’s favourite industrial/nu metal quintet Nightlives took the stage to roars from their intensely passionate fans. With dual 8 string guitars the 5 piece opened on their single Under The Radar, a hard-hitting, gritty, EDM tinged track that showed off singer Taf Richard’s engaging stage presence and vocals that jumped seamlessly between rap and screams.
Blending influences from varied artists like Bring Me The Horizon, Nine Inch Nails and, most obviously, Enter Shikari, Nightlives took advantage of their dual metal and electronic nature, augmenting their sound with synths and backing tracks. Unlike some acts who feel embarrassed for using backing tracks or electronics, Nightlives lean into it, miming their guitars as violins during an orchestral segment and augmenting their live drum sound with punchy pre-recorded 808s. Nightlives brought their huge recorded sound to life with a killer live show.
Bristol alt-rock trio Blank Atlas returned to The Moon after the release of their debut album Dawn Chorus, the last time they played here was on the album’s release day supporting groovy Brighton rock band INTECHNICOLOUR and Bristol based thrash supergroup Skin Failure. Bringing their Meshuggah meets McFly sound to life with impossibly tight vocal harmonies the 3 piece, formed of guitarist Dan Thould, drummer Tom Thould and bassist Chris Simpson, opened with their album’s intro track Flawless, a song that lives up to its name with full, lush vocals, a simple, memorable guitar riff and sing-along chorus.
A highlight of the band’s set was sleeper hit Problems, one of Blank Atlas’ heavier, yet still accessible tracks. Splitting vocal duties evenly between the trio like an alt-rock NSYNC with a stomping guitar riff as a backdrop and relevant, timely lyrics, Blank Atlas seamlessly blend both heavy and mainstream influences like nobody else. This tour also marked the live debut of South Of Heaven, a track that combines the trio’s love of hench riffs and poppy sensibilities with a moody, progressive feel.
The three members of Blank Atlas have an almost telepathic relationship, remaining as impossibly in sync through energetic stage antics and heavy breakdowns as they are through their intricate 3 part vocal harmonies. The band’s mix of accessible songwriting and metal inspired riffs work perfectly in a live setting, masterfully building tension up to their intense breakdowns.