Millencolin's return to the UK
Another packed night at the Brixton Academy, the venue was infested with 5ft, baggy clothed 14 year olds smothered in black eyeliner and armed to the teeth with accessories and jewellery. So much stupidity would make the average Arsenal fan laugh all the way down to Highbury. The majority of the people here tonight were here to see TOTP's favourite punk rockers Good Charlotte. Then again, there was the odd person who had paid the full £15 to see Millencolin sweat it out for 30 minutes. As the Explosion finish off their peculiar set, Millencolin fans begin to push their way to the front to see a band that some of them had been waiting to see again for almost 3 years.
The band gets on stage and kick straight into 'Man or Mouse' sending the 30 odd fans in Brixton Academy into frenzy. The harder the Good Charlotte fans cried in pain from the cramped conditions, the more Millencolin seemed to rock. Erik and Matthias really emphasising their guitar parts and playing for the crowd. But for some reason, Nikola was very sincere towards the attitude of the crowd and the songs he sang. Not once smiling or making much chat between songs but it certainly didn't seem to affect the music, Nikola's voice as sweet as ever and the band settling to the stage as like dust to the ground.
Playing all the classics from their last two albums and even included fan favourite 'Bullion', Millencolin were here to enjoy themselves and although it wasn't their usual crowd, they certainly did rock the academy right to the walls. The set seemed to sustain the crowd's energy for the entire time they were on stage although there was nowhere near enough room for people to move, let alone jump or pit.
The Swedish quartet played a strong set leaving no room for fillers or even time for the crowd to breathe. 'Black Eye' is a song I’ve never been a fan of on record, but the atmosphere it brought to the stage was remarkable with flawless backing vocals from Erik and Matthias. Fox was another song that isn't the best on record but is in fact a great crowd raiser with members of the band jumping around and generally going wild. The band also got the chance to play some of their new material including the current single 'Ray', which was surprisingly catchy as any of their previous singles and was one of the best songs of the night. Well that might be apart from their closing song of the night. After announcing it to be their last song, the band get the crowd clapping with the snare roll and broke into 'No Cigar' A great way to close off the set and left fans eagerly awaiting for their return to the UK, pleading for a full headlining tour.