Three and a crowd
There’s little doubt given the huge crowd that Alkaline Trio draw that they should be headlining this stage, as it is they get the penultimate slot on the Lock Up stage with Gallows (who don’t get near to the same crowd numbers) taking the headline duties.
The crowd are certainly ready for this and give a deafening cheer when the trio of Matt Skiba, Derek Grant and Dan Adriano take to the stage. I’ve never been a huge fan of Alkaline Trio, finding their melodic punk a little too lightweight and mainstream but there’s no denying that they put on one hell of a show. They have the crowd in the palm of their hands from the start and can do no wrong as they turn in a slick performance. Musically it’s all very melodic and safe but it’s extremely well done and the crowd never stop singing.
The set features a good mix of old and new songs from ‘Private Eye’ to ‘In Vain’. They verge on pop punk at times but there’s always a small dark undercurrent running through their songs which keeps it in check. Good sing along choruses abound and they waste little time on pleasantries between songs, preferring to cram as much as possible into their fifty minute set. Every song seems like a crowd pleaser tonight from the impressive ‘Mercy Me’, ‘Crawl’ and highlight of the set for me ‘Goodbye Forever’. They finish with ‘Radio’, which at first I think an odd one to close out with as it’s pretty slow in the main but then it breaks out into a big chorus and the crowd just take it to a new level.
Good band and a thoroughly solid performance that sent everyone away happy. Having played the main stage in previous years they seem much more at home here but on tonight’s evidence you get the feeling they could pull it off anywhere.