As Everything Unfolds Live At The Ramsgate Music Hall

The band embarked on a Grassroots venue tour which included a stop at one of my favourite venues

The start of the year saw many bands supporting grassroots venues by doing a tour and playing at some of the best venues in the UK. One of these bands was As Everything Unfolds who have come off the back of a successful year where they released their second album 'Ultraviolet' and a string of festival appearances and shows which included a headline show at London O2 Academy Islington. So a performance in front of 130 people will be a rare treat for everyone involved.

I am thrilled to be back at one of the best venues I discovered last year, The Ramsgate Music Hall. Last year I saw the incredible Holding Absence. Many were talking about that show while I walked around to make my way to the bar. Up there I got to chat with Bassist Geroge Hunt and synths/ Keyboard player Jon Cassidy who were in high spirits for the show as they took charge of the merch table. I spoke to them about the tour and their playing at the Music Hall and they seemed excited to play in a more intimate setting and for it to get sweaty in the pits that evening.

While we were chatting, We could see that the first act of the evening was on stage and getting the crowd warmed up. Darlah was the name of the band and there were certainly moments which stuck out to me. A big part of their set was a cover of Evanescence's hit ' Bring Me to Life' which did surprise me but the lead singer Danni Hicks smashed it. The band had songs which also grabbed my attention such as 'Sequel' which closed their set in style with its catchy chorus and heavy rifts cementing to me that this is a band you should keep an eye out for going forward.

The second band of the evening was South Arcade who are an Alt Pop group that got my attention in Ramsgate. Their energy on stage alone is a reason to go and see one of their shows. they also got the crowd off their feet with their set as well as all warmed up for what was to come. What helped their set that night was their limited yet awesome back catalogue which is full of catchy lyrics and great rifts. Songs such as 'Riptide' and 'Danger' are earworms which sit with you for days on end and can get a crowd singing along even if they don't know the song. Lead singer Harmoney is also a great frontperson who can get a crowd moving on command. This is certainly a band you need to keep an eye on in the future.

Finally, It was time for our headliners, As Everything Unfolds. With the crowd warmed up, It was time for the show. Before I get into the music, I have to mention my disappointment with the crowd throughout the night. Unfortunately, some individuals decided to treat the show as a piss-up. This made many people including myself very uncomfortable with many of these individuals constantly falling over in the pits and unable to stand leaving them to fall into other audience members which was incredibly frustrating when you're trying to watch the show. At this point, I have a lot of questions. Why have their mates left them in this state? why have security let them into the hall in this state? how are you this drunk on a weekday? This is just a bad example of crowd etiquette and how you should act at a show.

Right, Rant over. let's talk about the show itself. The band's set was filled with heavy rifts and fantastic vocals from lead singer Charlie Rolfe. She pushed her vocals to the max that evening, Not hitting all of the screams but when she did it was something to gain your attention and if not then her clean vocals are full of emotion and are some of the best in the metalcore scene. As well as the bands' excellent performance, their setlist was also filled with the best songs off their last two albums such as 'Felt Like Home', 'Ultraviolet' and 'On The Inside' but my favourite of the evening was 'Saint or Rouge' which I loved on the new album but I have always wanted to hear the song live so to finally get to enjoy that was a highlight for me. The other thing I'd say is that it's clear that the bands' performance is an example of them leanring from the bands they have toured with. Their confidence seems to get higher every show they play which helps their performance and I would put that down to playing with some of the best live bands around such as Enter Shikari and Electric Callboy and the show at Ramsgate just shows how they can headline shows of their own.

So in conclusion, As Everything Unfolds put on a great show which just shows how they are becoming a band that can perform effortlessly at their headline show and entertain a crowd. It's just a shame that some people in the crowd that night ruined the atmosphere in the hall that evening.