Following an exciting year in which their sixth album, ‘VI’, was released, English rock band You Me at Six’s debut album ‘Take Off Your Colours’ also had its 10-year anniversary. Shortly after ‘VI’ was released, YMAS headed out for the ‘Take Off Your Colours’ anniversary tour, which concluded at our very own Rock City with a sold-out show. The hype surrounding this tour made it all the more exciting to attend, with most shows of the tour being sold out and a massive demand for tickets leading to a further 7 dates being added. Even more exciting was the knowledge that You Me at Six would be performing the ‘Take Off Your Colours’ album in its entirety.
Shortly after doors opened, the first support act The Xcerts came on, an alternative rock trio who were followed by another alternative rock band, Marmozets. Having 3 bands of the same genre all in one place, all having released new albums this year, certainly made Rock City the place to be, which was evident by the mass of people who were singing along to each band the whole night.
“The Truth is a Terrible Thing” opened You Me at Six’s set, setting the tone for the ‘Take Off Your Colours’-centric setlist. Whilst the setlist revolved around YMAS’ debut album, they did make sure to play several songs from their other albums, predominantly their most recent album ‘VI’ which only came out a couple of months ago. Popular song from ‘VI’, “Fast Forward”, was used to open the encore, which was an obvious crowd-pleaser. There was also a small yet massively appreciated selection of songs from ‘Sinners Never Sleep’, ‘Cavalier Youth’ and ‘Hold Me Down’, including hit songs “Reckless”, “Room To Breathe” and “Underdog”. This meant that there was a whole range of genre-blending rock music being played, from heavier songs to ones more reminiscent of pop-rock.
It was great to see some songs from ‘VI’ live, with it being an album completely different to those previously released, spanning different styles and moods in a way that differs from what you may expect from YMAS, highlighting the creative capacities of the band.
Overall, it was a great night and a true celebration of how far You Me at Six have come in the past 10 years. It was consistently energetic both because of the music being played and the constant crowd interaction from frontman and lead vocalist Josh Franceschi throughout the show. The interaction with the crowd was natural in a way that was presented as an outward expression of a mutual love for music, which was bettered even further due to the venue space, which whilst it held a good capacity, is much more intimate that other shows on the tour would be.
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