Anberlin Wedgewood Rooms 21st November
Posted: December 6, 2010 Filed under: Journalism, Music, Music Reviews | Tags: Anberlin, Feel Good Drag, Paperthin Hymn, Stephen Christian, The Wedgewood Rooms Leave a comment »
The mighty Anberlin returned to the UK this year to play eight dates all over England.
Opening up Portsmouth’s Wedgewood Rooms one cold November evening with new single ‘We Owe This To Ourselves’, they were off to a fiery start. Fan favourite ‘Paperthin Hymn’ was next as almost everyone sang along to the chorus of ‘I thought you said forever/Over and over/The sleepless night becomes bitter oblivion’.
The band played songs from all 5 of their albums, but it was the tracks from the 2007 album ‘Cities’ that went down the best. The acoustic version of ‘The Unwinding Cable Car’ was nothing short of magnificent as lead singer Stephen Christian demonstrated his stunning vocal abilities.
This was immediately followed by one of the band’s heaviest songs, ‘Godspeed’. Shouts of ‘hey hey’ in time with raised fists across the room and a ferocious guitar solo made it an unforgettable rendition of what is arguably the band’s best song.
Not wanting to miss the opportunity to promote their latest album ‘Dark Is The Way, Light Is A Place’, the infectious beat of ‘Pray Tell’ was started up before the crowd had a chance to catch their breath after the sonic attack of ‘Godspeed’.
There could only really be one song to finish with. The opening riff of ‘The Feel Good Drag’ coincided with a long overdue Moshpit. It was a powerful finish and an encore was inevitable.
In a nod to fans who had been screaming ‘Readyfuels!!!’ between songs all evening, the band gave us what we wanted in performing a near perfect version of one of their oldest songs.
All in all, the gig was everything you would expect from a band that continues to impress listeners all over the world. Let’s hope it’s not long before they return to England once again…
