On September 23rd, Welsh pop punk band Neck Deep had The Cowan packed to conclude their touring cycle before heading to the studio to record their newest album. Opening bands, Sad Baxter and Best Intentions did an amazing job warming up the crowd.
To prepare the crowd for a night of moving (and a day of sore muscles tomorrow,) Neck Deep opened up their set with a bang, performing “Motion Sickness” from their most recent album, The Peace And The Panic. Instantly, a mosh pit ensued. “Gold Steps” and “Smooth Seas Don’t Make Good Sailors” had the crowd surfing and screaming lyrics: “And life’s not out to get you, despite the things you’ve been through, because what you give is what you get, and it doesn’t make sense to make do;” and “The world’s a fucked up place but it depends on how you see it. Life is full of change you grow up and then you feel it. But smooth seas don’t make good sailors. Jump ship and head for failure. Find yourself a tragedy- slowly lose your sanity.”
The crowd properly prepared a wall of death to start off “Citizens of Earth,” which turned into a mosh pit that continued through to their next song, “Don’t Wait” and right into the portion of their set filled with songs from 2012 album Rain in July. They began playing the first song they released under the name Neck Deep: “What Did You Expect?” The authentic fans, a majority of the crowd, positively reacted with a mosh pit when the double-time drums kicked in. Their first released song has a complete time signature change that enhances the crowd’s reaction. They continued this portion with “Over and Over” and concluded it with “All Hype, No Heart.”
“Kali Ma” had the venue radiating with energy from kids jumping all over to screaming along to every word. The energy did not waiver when “Happy Judgement Day” started playing. “Is it just me or does anyone else feel like this could be farewell? Oh, we almost had it, then we pissed it all away. Building walls, dropping bombs- stop the world, I’m getting off. Oh, we almost had it. Never thought I’d see the day, when the world went up in flames.” It was apparent that this song emotionally dug deep for the lead singer to everyone in the venue. It is one of those moments where you realize how important music is and the impact it has on every person.
They played their newest song “She’s A God,” as a little sample of what is to come. The crowd got a thrill out of it. The song itself is incredible, but to see it performed live heightened the exhilaration tenfold. They started winding down the set by winding up the crowd with songs from their 2015 release Life’s Not Out To Get You: “Can’t Kick Up the Roots,” “Rock Bottom,” and the full band version of “December.”
They ended the night with two encore songs: “In Bloom,” lead singer Ben’s favorite song he’s ever written, and “Where Do We Go When We Go” where a circle pit formed before Ben could even introduce the song. Considering it was the last chance of the night to give everything they had, 600 people participated physically in crowd surfing and mosh pits, while others participated vocally- screaming their lungs out: “Pain, pain go away, come back another day. I just wanna get one up on life before it kills me.”
This show was an especially special set since it was their last show after touring all year, but it was also guitarist’s Matt West’s birthday so before they played “December,” their crew brought a cake out for Matt as the crowd sang happy birthday. It’s the little things that really add to the emotions and importance of a show. It is evident that this night was a perfect release from the world for every single fan in the venue.
Stream their music (and pay attention to the lyrics): https://open.spotify.com/artist/2TM0qnbJH4QPhGMCdPt7fH?si=YG-L9iYGRn2XeVZXHPA9Kg
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