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Arizona Blue – Live at Plymouth White Rabbit - 28/03/2012
***** After a week in the studio and the start of their tour last night (27th March) in Bristol, Arizona Blue have come back to Plymouth, after over a year since the band have been there, the sold out in advance gig is absolutely packed. Three local bands have already taken to the stage and fired the crowd up ready for the highly anticipated return to Plymouth for Arizona Blue.
The crowd is full of people who seem to be strangers to the club scene when it comes to gigs, the crowd has been fairly calm up to now, but the mood quickly shifts when the lights go out at 10 p.m. leaving the club in darkness.
With screaming fans getting louder as the band take to the stage one by one, bassist Lewis Harley, drummer Matt Cole, guitarists Dan Johnson and Liam Miller, and finally vocalist James Elliot go on stage in that order as their intro track is played, which turns out to be an extended intro to the song World Of Fire.
“sing this shit with me Plymouth” demands vocalist James Elliot, showing the bands hardcore side screaming the line “Put the sinners where they belong” over a breakdown that is not in the recorded version of the song, the band cut out the slow build up and get right into it as the opening song gets into full swing “We are a band called Arizona Blue, this is World Of Fire”
The song that has been given the label “the most angry song written by the band” it is clear how much this band mean business, as with just one song the crowd are already restless, the vocals being a lot heavier than expected judging previous shows.
The band go straight in to a song called “Time” – from their self-titled EP, half the fans seem unfamiliar to the song which also appears as B-side on the World of Fire EP but still move for it and sing along to the parts they know.
The band stops playing after two songs to talk to the crowd and tune-up, so far the band have impressed, talking to the crowd Jimmy asks who would like to hear a song they’re playing live for the first time on this tour, the crowd goes nuts knowing they’re about to hear something completely new from the upcoming album Blackout.
The song is introduced as “Abandon” which is confirmed by the vocalist will be one of the last tracks on the upcoming album.
The song starts off with a crunching riff that gets you off your feet from the start. The crowd go insane, to give you an idea of how heavy the song is, two mosh pits breaking out in the small venue, one for the usual open space with people jumping into each other, and one opening for the love/hate 2-steppers, the song, in all fairness, is a good song however towards the end of the song there’s the predictable slow part where it build up to a belting chorus, which is still great and works.
After the new song, drummer Matt starts playing a solo drum piece while the guitarists change their guitars, this continues until they’re all ready, where a tricky little drum fill sees the band break into playing the song Ice, the opening track from their debut EP. Which is quite a lot lighter than the first half of their set but still works because of how the band play the material live, throwing in a couple of screams where clean vocals were and putting all their energy to make up visually where the song doesn’t live up to what the other songs brought musically.
Guitarist Dan Johnson starts playing an unfamiliar riff, the song is quite strange, it’s a cross between a very light pop-punk band and an almost-metal hard rock band, however Arizona Blue once again pull it off, nobody knows what this song is but the crowd enjoy it by jumping around and moshing to it.
At the end of the song, James apologises for not introducing the song, he tells the crowd it was a song called Little Fiends, a song also taken from Blackout.
“It’s time to slow things down slightly because we’re all fucking knackered” James tells the crowd.
James also takes the time to thank the crowd for coming and supporting the band, he dedicated the song “Dying” to the fans that had been following the band since the beginning, which is also on their debut EP.
Dan Johnson - playing with emotion
To get things back going, the band play a song they’ve been playing for a few months called Kings, which is going to be featured on Blackout, some people even singing along from watching live versions of the song on the internet, after the song the band go off stage without saying a word, leaving feedback from the guitars ringing, as a weird kind of dubstep song is played through the PA, everyone is still looking at the stage, as the genre does with everyone, it divides the crowd into people loving it and people that are just there to see what’s coming next, after about 30 seconds of this playing, the band walk back on stage.
“There is no way we’re going without saying goodnight, we want another dance Plymouth” are the first words out of James’ mouth, “Let’s go insane Plymouth!” he exclaims as the drop comes and the track kicks in, 2-steppers take over the crowd at this point, and the band start playing along, it’s something that nobody expected Arizona Blue to do, but they’re doing it, playing a breakdown over a dubstep track.
The track starts to fade out, and the introduction to “This Ship Is Sinking” – the bands most popular song before World Of Fire’s success is played by Matt Cole, the song is taken from the self-titled EP, it’s a perfect example of just how many genres the band mix even in one song, with a catchy chorus, technical drums, heavy guitars and adrenaline flowing through the song from start to finish, it’s a great way to finish a great set, “Goodnight Plymouth, I promise we won’t take so long to come back next time!” says James. “This has been great, you’ve been amazing and we’ll see you in a few months when Blackout drops, thank you so much!”
Arizona Blue walk off to the cheering crowd and the chanting of the bands name, this was truly a set of a band that are making their mark as one of the most exciting live bands that you’re going to lay eyes on and they’re in all fairness only just beginning, a very impressive live show from a very impressive new band, all their hard work is paying off, and if tonight is anything to go by, Blackout is going to be something special.
Arizona Blue return to the studio Tuesday April 3rd, their tour will continue from tonight (29th, Reading, 30th, Lonson, Apil 1st, Cardiff). Blackout due for release this summer.
Setlist:
World Of Fire
Time
Abandon
Ice
Little Fiends
Dying
Kings
Dubstep interlude
The Ship Is Sinking
ooc: didn't just give myself a 5 star review for nothing! Played a gig on the actual game and rate everything like this:
1 – 20 – *
21 – 40 - **
51 – 60 - ***
61 – 80 - ****
81 – 100 - *****
Also, this is my first live RP so it's not amazing but still!
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Arizona Blue are:
James Elliot - Vocals
Liam Miller - Guitar/Vocals
Dan Johnson - Guitar
Lewis Harley - Bass
Matt Cole - Drums
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