Review: Every Time I Die, Talking Heads, Southampton

Festival sets and impressive support slots aside (A Day To Remember and Architects, anyone?), it’s been a while since Every Time I Die graced UK shores with a headline tour.

Three years, to be exact, and when they’re still holding the title as one of the most exciting live bands on the planet, you’ll forgive us for chomping at the bit to get back in the pit. Wish us luck.

Icelandic openers Muck set the bar for the evening; their unrelenting and enthusiastic punk sound going down a treat and more than reminiscent of early Refused. Superheaven, on the other hand, calm things down a little. There is absolutely no escaping the current resurgence of grunge, and Superheaven do it so very well; I’ve Been Bored, Gushin’ Blood and Life In Jar all sound heavy enough to fit the bill, but different enough to not be another ‘core band opening for heroes of the genre. Both Muck and Superheaven hold their own AND rile the crowd up that by the time ETID take to the stage, everyone is raring to go.

It’s hard to think of the words to describe an Every Time I Die show. And when you do, it’s full of clichés. There’s blood, sweat and tears, there’s carnage; the intensity that comes with each song, each stagediver and each riff makes you fall in love with live music all over again. The five-piece power through a fifteen-song set, spanning seven albums… “This is passion”, yells frontman Keith Buckley during Ebolarama, and he’s not wrong.

ETID

The setlist is littered with form favourites and the ‘hits’, with some surprise appearances from album tracks like Gloom and How It Gets That Way. There’s a Nirvana cover in the form of Tourette’s – from EP Salem – and songs from their latest full-length slot effortlessly into a familiar set. Buckley nails the blood curdling vocals on Idiot, and the band execute every song with the kind of raw power others could only dream of.

There’s a reason Every Time I Die have such a strong fan base. The dedication to club shows – which feel like home; a sweaty home, ready to be torn to shreds – sharing a stage with approximately 75% of crowd members and ferocious sets night after night feed off of the energy from the fans, and it’s testament to their seventeen-year career that at the end of the tour they’re playing four consecutive shows in London, a different set each night. Not only that, but they sold out in minutes. The five piece are still holding the fort, no matter what genre you want to (try) and lump them in, just get tickets for a show if you still can, and thank us later.