ALL TIME LOW plus YELLOWCARD and YOUNG GUNS

Friday March 11th 2011
ALL TIME LOW plus YELLOWCARD and YOUNG GUNS
Manchester Apollo

This was our first visit to the Apollo this year and it is one of our favourite venues.  It is a very easy journey which takes about an hour and there is a car park right next door, which is always a bonus.

We got there at 7pm and waited in the car for about 15 minutes in the hopes that the queue may have shrunk a little ... how wrong we were!  We got out of the car and walked around the corner to the doors to discover that people had been camping out overnight, if not longer.  There were discarded blankets and sleeping bags all around the entrance, and the pavement was pretty disgusting to say the least!

How we chuckled when we passed a girl dressed as a cow and a boy with a penis drawn on his forehead in black marker pen ... hopefully not permanent ink, and made our way to the end of the queue.

I have NEVER seen a queue so long - it went all up the side of the Apollo (which is normal) but then it looped around another car park, came back on itself and went all the way out to the main road.  I was shattered when I got to the end of it.

Aimee said there was a sign at the entrance for O2 priority customers ... she reckons she said it when we actually walked past it but I didn't hear her ... I think I was transfixed by Cow Girl.  As I had booked my tickets via O2's Blueroom site we decided to see if we could get in there, even though my tickets didn't actually say they were priority.  We also decided that if they wouldn't let us in we'd go back to the car and sit for a while.

We finally got to the entrance ... again ... and went in the O2 customers' door.  Inside there was a little window and some people collecting tickets so I had a word with the nice security chap who said we should go in through the next door ... which we did ... thereby effectively jumping the queue.

Now as you know, I'm not a fan of such practices but in this case I don't consider it rude because its a perk of being an O2 customer at an O2 sponsored venue.  And it made me feel very important indeed!

Once inside the Apollo we were immediately next to the merch desk.  I had some money on me and told Aimee I could lend her £20 if she wanted anything, but she should get it straight away before the whole place was too packed to move.  She picked up a lovely tee shirt and we made our way upstairs to the quieter toilets.  I had intended to get myself a drink as well but after Aimee's purchase I only had 45p left to my name. 

After powdering our noses we headed to our seats ... we knew where we were sitting as we had exactly the same seats precisely a year before when we first saw You Me At Six ... such a coincidence!  Fantastic seats they were too - on the right hand side practically overlooking the stage.  Couldn't have been much better.

We hadn't been sitting too long before Young Guns came on.  We saw them in Stoke last November and they were great.  In fact Aimee was wearing her Young Guns Tee shirt to the gig (which she then covered up with her new one).

The first thing I noticed was that they all had extremely tight trousers.  I don't know how they manage to move about so much with jeans so tight.

The hall itself was at least half full, but knowing how many people were queueing outside I wasn't sure they'd fit everyone in!

Young Guns (from High Wycombe) got everyone jumping up and down and I even saw a mini mosh pit, which looked a bit sorry for itself from where I was sitting.  One poor girl had to be pulled out of the audience during their second song and I couldn't help hoping she hadn't been camping out all night to get to the front, only to be removed after a song and a half.  What a shame!

The now obligatory floating condom came out quite early on.  Its a comforting thought that the person who had blown it up and set it free would probably never actually need it for its true purpose!

Young Guns definitely rocked it, but if you'd like to see them and the other bands for yourself please check out Aimee's recordings of the event>>Aimee's Videography

Next up were Yellowcard.  I hadn't heard of them before but they were really good.  They're from Jacksonville, Florida and have been going since 1997.  The unusual thing about them is that, despite being part of the pop punk genre they have a violinist, which I loved.

Obviously I didn't know any of their songs but Aimee was singing away, as she was all night, and if you listen very carefully you might just hear her voice on the video she recorded ... voice of an angel that girl! 

During the interval, not only did the boys next to us disturb us again, but we spotted a dancing cow sitting on a big box and rocking away to the music.  I'm not sure if this was in any way related to the girl in the queue, and I don't think I want to know, but it amused me throughout the break.

Finally the lights went out and the audience screamed ... thank goodness for ear plugs ... and on came All Time Low.  Aimee and I have waited so long to see them and they were brilliant from start to finish.

Jack's microphone stand transformed into a bra holder almost immediately, and girls continued to throw bras on to the stage throughout their set.  I asked Aimee if she thought I should throw mine and she nodded and laughed ... I think I might have knocked somebody out if I'd launched my boulder holder from the balcony!

For fact fans the band are from Baltimore, Maryland and formed in 2003.  Their name is taken from lyrics in the song 'Head on Collision' by New Found Glory ... according to Wikipedia.

I'm not sure if farmyard animals is a general theme of their shows but shortly after coming onto the stage an inflatable sheep came flying in from the crowd.  Again, its perhaps best I don't ask.

The girls all got a bit giddy when Alex announced that there was a spare bunk on their tour bus that night, and that it was the one in between Jack and himself.  I could barely hear the quote of the night over all the squealing when he asked
"Do you want to be the turkey in my sandwich?"
I could only think one thing ... more farm animals!

When the rest of the boys went for a bit of a break, Alex stayed on stage with his guitar and did a beautiful rendition of Katy Perry's Teenage Dream.  They finished with Dear Maria, which I am reliably informed by Aimee went Gold a couple of days before, and that's despite having no radio airplay.

They are a great bunch of lads, really good fun, and all very gorgeous ... especially Rian the drummer, who is my favourite.  The show as a whole was great value for money and it was definitely one of my favourite gigs.  All 3 bands also said that we were the best crowd of the whole tour and it was their favourite gig.  I thought they said that every night but I was most impressed when Aimee showed me All Time Low's Twitter post saying the same thing.

As soon as it finished we left by the exit we were sitting right next to, straight to the car and got out of the car park before most people had even left the building.  Most successful.

That's it for now - our next gig is on March 23rd when we see The Maine at Manchester Academy.  Another band I don't know a whole lot about but I'm looking forward to it all the same.

TTFN x