The Upwelling at the O2 Shepherds Bush Empire
If you are going to be opening for an enthusiastic and energy driven bunch of lads like The All American Rejects, then you need to be able to warm the crowd to the right temperature so they are excited, but not too drained that they are on their last breath of air for when the main act comes on. There was no chance that the crowd were going to be overwhelmed when it came to the performance The Upwelling.
There was very little movement on stage and this was on the large Shepherd’s Bush Empire Stage not one of those miniature corner things where bands can barley tap their feet let along move back and forth. Considering the size of the venue, the lads could have really made much more of an impact. Musically they seemed ton give it their best, but this was only moderately entertaining. There was no oomph, no drive behind what they were singing. Even when covering ‘I Wanna Be Sedated’ they failed to make everyone song-a-long.
The All American rejects have signed The Upwelling to their label, so there must be something they are seeing that fans at the Empire on this occasions were not privy too. Maybe next time the guys enter British shores there will a little more liveliness to fulfil our appetite.