Last Thursday I went to see Asking Alexandria performing at The Roundhouse. Asking Alexandria are an English metalcore band, consisting of Danny Worsnop (vocals), Ben Bruce (lead guitar), James Cassells (drums), Cameron Liddell (rhythm guitar) and Sam Bettley (bass guitar).
When I bought tickets, the su
pport acts hadn’t been announced, so I was very happy when I heard that they were to be Secrets, Crown The Empire and The Ghost Inside as I’d heard of them all before (although am only a fan of Crown The Empire).
I’d wanted to watch all support acts, but I’d come straight from college to try to get there as soon as possible and despite being there an hour early the queue was already really long. It took us a while to get let in, so I missed Secrets.
Nevertheless, I arrived just in time to see all of Crown The Empire, the main support act I’d wanted to see. They were really good, and I love Andy Leo’s vocals which sound just as good live as recorded. The amount of energy that they put into their performance was admirable, as they kept the crowd moving, jumping, singing along and moshing. However, I must admit that I’m not as much of a fan of their new album ‘The Resistance: Rise Of The Runaways’ than their previous one ‘The Fallout,’ so I wish they could have performed more of their older songs.
Then The Ghost Inside came on and performed a few songs. They were quite impressive and you could feel the songs vibrating through your body, but I personally prefer songs with more clean vocals which aren’t purely shouting. I enjoyed their last song the most, ‘Engine 45’ as I recognised it and it’s also quite catchy.
Then there was the big wait as Asking Alexandria’s stage was set up. They came on to the dramatic opening of ‘Don’t Pray For Me,’ which built up the anticipation, and the audience cheered and sang along as the vocals began.
The setlist was:
1. Don’t Pray For Me
2. Run Free
3. Breathless
4. Break Down The Walls
5. To The Stage
6. Dedication
7. Someone, Somewhere
8. Moving On
9. A Prophecy
10. The Final Episode (Let’s Change The Channel)
11. Not The American Average
12. Killing You
13. The Death Of Me
14. Poison
There’s been a lot of talk recently as fans have been saying that Danny ‘can’t scream anymore’ after breaking his vocal cords and having to get them fixed. From the performance I saw he can definitely still scream, but he just doesn’t do quite as much of it and has a different style.
I like how Asking Alexandria seem to get a different sound with each album as this means that their albums aren’t exactly the same and their sound develops. Now, Danny has more of a classic rock voice which definitely suits the new songs. It’s also interesting to see him incorporate this new style into their old songs such as the classics ‘The Final Episode’, ‘A Prophecy’ and ‘Not The American Average’.
It was great how energetic the crowd was, although I was a bit disappointed that I wasn’t near a big mosh pit, as I’ve never been in one and wanted to give it a go. Despite being between two when Crown The Empire were performing, there were more on the other side when Asking Alexandria were playing.
I was very impressed with the performance AA gave, as Danny was very much in tune, and each member was full of energy. In between songs, Danny and Ben gave random comments and joked with each other, and it was a very enjoyable show. I feel as though they have improved live and their new style may make it easier for them to give consistent performances. I’m very glad I went.
Pure Destruction 