Live Review: You Me At Six, Luca Brasi

Luca Brasi riled up the Metro Theatre up nicely with a set peppered with potential future anthems but the crowd were clearly saving their energy for the main act, with shrill screams echoing around the venue as You Me At Six hit the stage to the epic power of Room To Breathe, arguably most recent LP Cavalier Youth’s strongest single, following it up with a typically rowdy Loverboy and a passionate Stay With Me, a natural singalong.

The well-chosen opening trio of tracks came from each of their last three albums, hinting that the band would be catering for fans both old and new tonight. And when singer Josh Franceschi announced, “We’ll be playing a lot of old shit tonight, I hope that makes you happy,” before launching into an emotional rendition of No One Does It Better and fan favourite Underdog, the audience’s response indicated that it made them VERY happy.

After covering all bases and showcasing their most popular ‘slowies’ (Crash and Fireworks) there was a dramatic change in atmosphere midway through the next song, Bite My Tongue, when a commotion down the front caused Franceschi to force the rest of the band to cut the music with an impassioned, “Stop playing, it’s not worth it!” Whatever the ruckus was, it was quickly sorted, though the band wouldn’t continue until they’d made it clear that fan safety was their priority. Considering the young age of the majority of their fanbase, it was touching to see a band genuinely caring more about their fans’ welfare than their ‘rock star’ image.  

The evening ended with Cavalier Youth track Lived A Lie, which didn’t seem to work as well as a finale, as the crowd seeming to be more from the pre-Sinners Never Sleep era, but judging by the reaction to the band announcing they’ll be back once they’ve ‘written a new fucking album’ their choice of last song hardly seemed to matter.