Reviewed on Mar 22, 2006 by cathyreay

Growing up listening to Nirvana and five years later fronting an internationally successful boyband (in every wicked sense of the word)... wait, something must've gone wrong here. It did. Three years later, Charlie Simpson found his rightful family and left sold out Wembley Stadium shows for audiences 50x smaller... some people wonder why, but if you've seen Fightstar live you've no need to question his motive.

Not usually a fan of turning up to gigs early only to wait around for the half-assed support bands to make an appearance, I made an exception tonight only because I knew that the first act up was led by the brother of the headliners... and since I am currently so in awe of the Fightstar record, it seemed only appropriate for me to evaluate whether his younger sibling's band is of a similar vein. So I turn up two hours before Fightstar are even due onstage. Bri:gade are ok... yeah, they do sound like Fightstar but nothing like as epic, moving or sensually provocative. They might do well just because of the famous family link though. Who knows. Who cares? All I can think about is how slowly the next two hours will go.

The next two bands were dire. Let's not waste time talking about how boring they were only to sound even more boring...

Fastforward two hours. Traipsing into the familiar VIP section of this somewhat famed British venue, I found myself wedged between the wife of the cousin of Fightstar's drummer and the girlfriend of a dude that works at Sanctuary (seems just about anyone can get AAA passes these days). Despite the guest area being filled with relatives going on 50, the average age range in this venue tonight couldn't have surpassed 20 - almost enough to make me feel out of place. I entertain myself with the idea that these fans must have followed Charlie Simpson through his pop band Busted days and are so devoted that they've completely renovated their music taste to suit this much more hard-edged group... but as I look around, I realise that can't possibly be the case. There are kids here with Mötorhead hoodies on. There's no way any one of them would be caught dead singing along to Year 3000.

And there comes the first stab of pride. Looking around at these hungry faces: hair gelled in rightful swooping place over the eyes, eyelids clad in black liner and lips pierced in at least one place... this is an emo crowd. Granted, Fightstar are not an emo band but hell, it's a damn good start right? This show is sold out. Amazing considering the fact that nothing that spews out of Simpson's mouth is at all commercial.

Opening with 'To Sleep', the ethereal, slow-moving intro on their album, green lasers are shot over the balcony area as smoke clouds the stage and first five rows of the audience. As anticipated, everyone goes wild, and once the 30 second musicianless song is over and the four heroes of the night come running on stage, the atmosphere is already electric. Fightstar proceed to delve into a 45 minute set of songs from their debut full-length Grand Unification and only EP They Liked You Better When You Were Dead. Highlights of the show are scattered aplenty but include the fabulously played single 'Paint Your Target', 'Mono' - which I found myself huffing a cigarette to in celebration of its dreamlike, gorgeous, syrupy goodness, 'Waste A Moment' (even though Charlie fucked up once, but he’s easily forgiven by me) and 'Grand Unification Pt.2', in which Simpson delicately plays the keyboard. I would've liked to have seen more of his talent expressed through keys. Lead guitarist/"throat" Alex Westaway excused himself for his poor vocals due to food poisoning, which is forgivable considering the whole show was amazing with or without his input.

I completely fell in love with this band from the first listen of their album and everything in their live show lives up to this fantasy world they create with the heavy smoked sound and heavenly hoarse vocals... I don't care if Fightstar sell out or become mega huge. As cheesy as it sounds, they deserve every ounce of praise they'll ever get.

Support Acts:

Reuben
Last Days Of April
Bri:gade

Related Links:

• www.fightstarmusic.com

Album Reviews

	They Liked You Better When You Were Dead Apr 11, 2006
	Grand Unification Mar 13, 2006

Gig Reviews

Mar 22, 2006 London Astoria