Escape the Fate
Electric Ballroom, Camden
30/10/14
A long overdue tour from US outfit Escape the Fate has finally hit the UK. After their pull from Warped Tour at Alexandra Palace last year, it is no surprise that their fans are even just a little bit ecstatic about their return.
The Electric Ballroom saw their final show of the Download Freezes Over tour with special guests New Years Day who touched the hearts of those at the front but can’t necessarily be compared to something of prestige; the crowd is rather still. Ash Costello’s gutsy vocals appear to power the guys through but partnered with an overuse of strobes and repetitive ‘dance’ moves, it seems the majority of spectators were put off.
Although it appears a slow start, York lads, Glamour of the Kill, hit the stage with a punch of energy that gets the whole room to their feet. Powering through a set of crowd favourites, it is of no surprise to see so many moving bodies. GOTK clearly were a perfect outfit to play before tonight’s main event.
Escape the Fate’s entrance to their stage was that of chilling mysticism. Darkness saw the silhouettes of the guys slowly merge onto the stage before a flash of light revealed them masked in a spooky yet light-hearted Halloween theme. The crowd cheers and applauds before the guys drop into ‘You’re Insane.’
Although the first few songs of tonight are riddled with technical faults, the lads play on with the crowd going crazy for their riffs. Even light-hearted jokes were made between songs as the technical teams tried to fix the problems, but potentially there were a few too many penis gags.
Tonight’s show is not full to the brim but the fans here definitely make up for the empty spaces. And with crowd favourites ‘Something’ and ‘Ashley’ brought out from the back catalogue, it was of no surprise to see a mass of die-hard fans grabbing one another and singing along in unity.
Tonight’s performance was undeniably not one to forget. “We honestly thank you from the bottom of our hearts” says Craig before the guys storm into a heated encore of ‘This War is Ours.’ Craig struggles to control the crowd as the whole venue is now transformed into a sweaty mass of bodies. Thrasher owns his stage as he plays his way on the strings, sounding expertly recorded. Not one note is missed. Not one person is still.
It was clear that Escape the Fate were long overdue to play back in the UK, and despite an ongoing history of line-up changes and style, I think everyone could agree that Escape the Fate are better than ever. We can’t wait to see them back again.
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