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| Jack Barakat & Alex Gaskarth 3Arena, Dublin 16/02/2016 |
Nevertheless, I haven’t seen them in a year (didn’t see them
at Reading Fest, only went one day, got no money, please send cash) and I’m man
enough to admit that I was starting to worry. Risky moves have been made and I
was pretentiously passing judgement all over the place.
But All Time Low eliminated those worries, shot down my
pretentious judgement and proved that they are still the same boys that I fell
in love with when I was 16. It wasn’t easy though. The way I see it, they
adopted a four step program to achieve it.
Step 1: Take Good
Charlotte out on tour.
YEP. YOU GUESSED IT. CAPTAIN HIPSTER HAYLEY SAW GOOD
CHARLOTTE IN THE GOOD OLD DAYS.
No but seriously I did. I had to do the research but I haven’t
seen them since 2005, and that was a good 5 years into their career.
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| Alex Gaskarth & Joel Madden (Good Charlotte) 3Arena, Dublin 16/02/2016 |
Good Charlotte are a part of pop-punk identity and by taking
them out on tour All Time Low have played a huge part in preserving that.
Better yet, they’ve helped re-launch it.
The rough challenge of making a ten-song set list out of a
ten-year career was made to look easy with some expected tracks (Girls and Boys, Lifestyles of the Rich and
Famous) but more importantly with some absolute bangers in Riot Girl and The Story of My Old Man.
I thought I hit peak nostalgia at Reading but that was
N-O-T-H-I-N-G in comparison to seeing those songs played live again. Mad props
to All Time Low for having the balls to choose a band that holds a piece of
pop-punk history, and means something to the community on a deep level, as
opposed to a corner-cutting act that realistically might have sold a few more
tickets. Way to hang on to your identity, and your place on that dark side of
the line.
Step 2: Don’t play a
single song from THAT album.
I’m not one to often take chunks out of an artist publicly
but All Time Low themselves have said that 2011’s Dirty Work was potentially a step in the wrong direction for them. I’m
not saying the album is trash, far from it, but for me it represents a time when
they very nearly crossed that line and forgot who they were.
The fact that their set list spanned their entire career,
even including Coffee Shop Soundtrack from
their 2006 EP Put Up Or Shut Up, but
did not include one single track from Dirty
Work speaks volumes about All Time Low’s determination to never come that close
to the line again.
I felt the absence of the So Wrong It’s Right era, in particular Remembering Sunday, but I respect their decision to bump the
acoustic track in favour of Missing You since
it’s a song that clearly means a lot to them (it struck a chord with me too, there
were tears).
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| Jack Barakat - Guitar 3Arena, Dublin 16/02/2016 |
Besides, they played Poppin’
Champagne with all the ridiculous bra-drenched energy they always
have
done, so it’s not as if set list crimes were committed.
The night relied more heavily on Nothing Personal (because it’s a blinding record) but was dominated
by the edgier tracks from last year’s Future
Hearts like Kids In The Dark and Dancing With a Wolf.
Honestly, I was chuffed with their set list choices and I
could have forgiven a lot more as well. Perhaps fans that have followed them
since the very, VERY, beginning would have a few words to say if they saw it
written down but here’s the thing, All Time Low are incredible performers and frankly,
they got this.
Step 3: Stop the set
half way through a song because the Mosh Pits aren’t up to scratch.
So it’s pretty clear to me by now that All Time Low really
are going as far as they can to stay true to themselves and stay with us here
in the alternative world. But last night they proved that there will be no
crowd-slacking on their watch.
When a rock vocalist like Alex Gaskarth tells you to start a
mosh pit, my advice to you all is to start a
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| Alex Gaskarth - Vocals 3Arena, Dublin 16/02/2016 |
Of course, he will then completely forget what key the song
is in and have to restart it again but that’s irrelevant (and mostly hilarious).
My point is, you might be fooled into thinking that you can go to an All Time
Low show with your glow-sticks and iPhones and spend the entire show uploading
footage to your Snapchat Story or Whatsapping bae but frankly, this was a
pop-punk show and you’re an eejit. Embrace the traditions that make these shows
what they are, or leave.
I heard an Irish woman say eejit whilst doing an impression
of a Leprechaun at the National Leprechaun Museum on Monday. It was a really special moment
in my life.
Step 4: Announce that
you’re playing Download Festival half way through the tour.
And finally, just in case anybody was still in doubt of All
Time Low’s love for the rock scene, they go and announce that this summer they
will be playing Download Festival 2016.
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| Rian Dawson - Percussion 3Arena, Dublin 16/02/2016 |
Not only will they be playing at the spiritual home of rock
music but they will be headlining the Zippo Encore Stage. They’ll play just
after Twin Atlantic (it’s as if all of my dreams have come true) and at the
same time as Rammstein.
Pop-machine bands don’t do that.
You would be right to think that going all the way across the
water is a bit mental, especially considering we live in such close proximity
to the London arena (and what an incredible venue that is).
It’s not even as if we can justify it and claim it was because
of the band. All Time Low are not Irish. (FYI: this is an incredibly subtle way
of reminding you of that time we saw Twin Atlantic in Glasgow…it’s best to
remind you since I don’t bring it up a lot.)
But it turned out Ireland was the most sensible place in the
world to see All Time Low. My favourite thing about this place is that it has
an incredible history, an unrivalled sense of identity and the Irish go to
wonderful lengths to help preserve that.
I hate to suggest that words are not omnipotent but the fact
of the matter is that there are NONE to describe how happy I am to tell you
that All Time Low carries that exact same spirit in their hearts.
