Live Review: There For Tomorrow, The Friday Night Boys, They Sink Ships, All Forgotten – Underworld, London - 07/04/2010

There’s a mixed crowd occupying Camden Underworld this evening. With wide ranging styles on offer from each band, not even co-headliners The Friday Night Boys and There For Tomorrow draw in more than about three quarters of those in attendance.

First up are Surrey five-piece All Forgotten, who would be forgiven for seeing this one off slot as perhaps a step down after supporting Fightstar on their recent UK tour. However, there are no signs of complacency, with crashing performances of ‘Love From A Mother’ and ‘At A Guess I’m Second Best’ provoking an energetic response from the small but enthusiastic crowd.

Despite technical difficulties, Hertfordshire pop-punks They Sink Ships deliver a set that leaves you grinning from ear to ear, with those who at the start seemed indifferent making their way to the stage before their short set is out. ‘Good As Gold’ and ‘King & His Crown’ deliver You Me At Six-esq energy, with a drive remnant of Jimmy Eat World. The hook of ‘When You’re Still Here’ is fired back at the stage with a youthful exuberance synonymous with the genre, leaving the band and the room buzzing.

The Friday Night Boys, on the face of it, don’t seem to offer much more than others of their ilk such as Boys Like Girls and mainstream conquerors All Time Low. But as is common with pop-rock bands, they have a devoted set of fans, that in the confines of this tiny venue, make for an interesting set. Sickly sweet ‘Stuttering’ has the mass of sweaty teenagers at the front doing their best Gareth Gates impressions, while ‘That’s What She Said’ is a surprisingly bouncy number, with a catchy as hell chorus that even briefly perks up the neutrals at the back. Too often though, the band are let down by their generic, regurgitated tales of chasing girls and the problems of high school, which for the most part leaves everyone other than their ardent supporters uninterested.

There for Tomorrow have a style that not many bands can boast. Too heavy for pop-punk, not heavy enough to claim straight rock status, the Florida quartet are somewhat of an enigma, which makes their powerhouse performance all the more surprising. ‘Deathbed’ is performed with passion and vigour, as is ‘Sore Winner’, a brilliantly crafted song which has the room moving from wall to wall. ‘The Remedy’ is the highlight of their set. Raw, catchy and with a real rock edge, it’s is the sort of cross-genre song that will endear them to a varied spectrum of fans. What is obviously noticeable from TFT’s performance is how tight knit their stage show really is, every track performed seamlessly, every member knowing their role and executing it brilliantly. On this showing, Tomorrow may just be the start.

Liam McGarry