YOU ME AT SIX 11/02/24

Written by Amelia Hodges

Photography by Courtney Monroe

It's safe to say, this tour was always going to be popular with the alternative community. Anyone who spent any time watching Kerrang TV in the last 20 years couldn’t escape You Me At Six’s catchy music. When this tour was announced as a celebration of the 10th anniversary of the band's first number-one album Cavalier Youth, paired with support band Deaf Havana who were also played frequently during this time, the tour would undoubtedly be popular. However, on the 31st of January (9 days before the beginning of the tour) the band posted to social media that “This is the end.”. The already in-demand tour saw a wave of fans new and old attempting to see their favourite band for what could be the last time, resulting in the almost sold-out tour. 

Call Me Amour 

Call Me Amour was first up and gave it everything they had in their short set. Their music blends dark electronica with distorted guitars, giving them a sound unlike anything else in the genre. Frontman Harry Radford is a natural lead and no stranger to the spotlight. Tonight was no exception! His experience as a singer beginning in 2006 with the band Yashin, who toured extensively with bands such as Papa Roach and Black Veil Brides, shows he is a natural and has only gone from strength to strength. 

The band kicked off their set with Blackout, a song from their newest EP Revolution. Blackout was easy to dance to and mellow in comparison to the rest of the set with a slightly slower chorus and distorted guitars which blended perfectly with subtle electronic elements. It was an excellent way to ease the crowd into their music. 

Chasing Bugs was up next, a heavier song with dark guitars and ominous synths, their metal influences can be clearly heard on this track (especially on the breakdown), blended with Radford’s clean vocals to create a perfect concoction that's catchy and easy to dance to. 

Call Me Amour went from strength to strength in this set, and by the third song had pulled out all the stops, with Radford leaping over the barrier and making his way through the crowd with his mic stand flashing like a beacon. He sang the slow and moody first verse perched on the mixing table before the song crescendoed at the chorus, with the synth becoming more prominent and the band booming during the punchy chorus. As the second verse began and the music mellowed out again, Radford made his way up the stairs and continued to perform the song without missing a beat. It's safe to say this impressed many members of the crowd with phones thrust into the air to record the moment. 

Girl on the Wall was the final song of the set. Radford warned that it was the crowd’s last opportunity to move, their reaction however wasn’t exactly enthusiastic, and as a result, the singer jumped into the crowd once more to open a pit, which a few people complied with. It was a perfect song for Call Me Amour to end with as its dark understated verses weaved with elements of synth that lead to a catchy chorus and techno-heavy breakdown perfectly encapsulating the band’s first EP. 

Overall their performance was eye-catching (and not just because of Radford’s sparkly shirt). It was obvious Call Me Amour knew what they were doing and had fun with the set which was brimming with energy. The band was let down by the crowd in this performance as they seemed to win over few audience members during this set. 

Deaf Havana

As for Deaf Havana, the final support of the night, their ties to You Me At Six span over almost the entirety of their career. Although they never seemed to reach quite the same heights as You Me At Six, their impact on the alternative music scene is undeniable. Changing the tempo from the hyper-energetic dark synth rock of Call Me Amour to a more mellow alternative rock sound that had the crowd swaying. Their staging was stripped back leaving the five band members on a dimly lit stage which allowed the audience to focus on the music. With seven albums to date, they had a sizable amount to choose from, although the set mostly consisted of their greatest hits.

Despite the band now only containing brothers James and Matthew Veck-Gilodi, after longtime bassist Lee Wilson and drummer Tom Ogden’s departure in late 2021, Deaf Havana was musically amazing live. The crowd seemed to agree, with the majority of the audience singing, swaying and filming the whole performance. 

That being said the band’s crowd interaction and stage presence were lacking, with very little conversation between songs and movement robotic at times. Their performance seemed overly rehearsed and unnatural, almost as though it was their first-ever live show. Although they did warm up to the crowd towards the end, even making the odd joke about finding it difficult to talk to an audience, it wasn’t enough to improve the personalised experience of the show. 

To the dedicated fans, however, this didn’t seem to affect how they perceived the performance as their energy was maintained throughout the set. Although it wasn’t completely electric in the sense of crowd surfing and carnage, the large majority of the audience had their hands thrust high into the sky screaming the melancholic anthems at full volume. For new fans and audience members finding the band for the first time it wasn’t a mind-blowing performance with anything particularly unique about the set apart from the band’s sound, which was true to the records. 

You Me At Six

It was time for You Me At Six, a show 20 years in the making. The beginning of the end. Among the crowd was a vast variety of people, from different backgrounds, different subcultures and different walks of life. It was something rarely seen in a crowd, there were no two people the same. It puts into perspective just how limitless You Me At Six’s reach has been over the last two decades. 

The crowd was buzzing with anticipation while the lights dimmed and we heard the fitting song “Don't You Forget About Me” by Simple Minds, which was a sad reminder about the band’s fast-approaching end of an era and their lasting impact, which was swiftly followed by Lionel Richie’s “All Night Long (All Night)” that raised the crowd’s spirits and set the mood for the rest of the evening… a celebration of the last 20 years rather than a goodbye. 

Lighting up the stage was simply three luminous diamonds, stage design in its simplest form, no gimmicks, but after touring for this long these pop-punk veterans have nothing to prove. This tour was about nothing but marking the closing of a chapter for Josh Franceschi, Max Helyer and Chris Miller, Matt Barnes and Daniel Flint while also reminiscing over the band’s achievements. Tonight was not only for the band but also for the fans.

You Me At Six finally emerged after a painstakingly long intro to "Room To "Breathe. The solitary guitar at the beginning only further inflated the suspense. Then the verse began with the full band. Every member of the audience was bouncing as Josh Franceschi, a natural showman, commanded the audience and had them hanging off every last word for the duration of the night. As the first verse began, the screaming fans bellowed the lyrics without missing a single beat. This paired with how natural and fun the band was to watch it was hard not to be swept up in the excitement and energy that was radiating from every person in the room.

It’s more business as usual, a band that has toured as extensively as You Me At Six could play this show with their eyes closed but instead performed with all the energy and playfulness as day one. Although, Josh Franceschi performs even the most complex vocal work casually but with pitch-perfect precision, identical to the records, if not even more impressively. 

Following this was another of the band’s anthems “Fresh Start Fever”, a slow intro once again paired with its punchy lyrics only continued the upward momentum of the night and the crowd’s energy was only getting more fierce. “Reckless” sent the crowd back with nostalgia to 2011, its iconic riff and lyrics were something every emo past or present sang with passion at some point. For the first time since 2019, the band performed both “Save It for the Bedroom” and “Kiss And Tell” on the tour, although the lyrics may not have aged well (written by the teenage band at the time) it was well received by the crowd, really showing the band were performing for the fans tonight. “Lived a Lie” was up next in this barrage of hits. Every song amplified the crowd with the continuous trajectory of energy, and no sign of stopping anytime soon. 

This set wouldn’t have been complete without songs from the band's complete discography, thus it was time to celebrate some of their newer material that would be littered into tonight's performance. Kicking off with “Mixed Emotions (I Didn't Know How to Tell You What I Was Going Through)” when comparing their classics to the newer material, they don’t quite have the same spark as the other songs performed in this set. Especially when followed by such beloved songs, which only highlighted :mydopamine:'s stodginess. In saying this, the crowd still gave it the respect it deserved with the most dedicated belting every word all the same. 

It wouldn’t be a You Me At Six show without at least one acoustic number and tonight was no different. It is here you see the band’s strengths shine through with all five members front and centre to perform in a raw nature with muted lighting. Josh Franceschi flexes his vocal abilities during “Be Who You Are” and “Stay With Me” beautifully and it is in this setting you can see why the band has had such a successful career. The crowd overpowered Franceschi’s voice at times giving a beautifully raw feeling to this part of the set.

Staying with the more mellow atmosphere, the band went back to their original positions to play “Take On The World”. There was no stage lighting used or needed for that matter as the crowd did the work for them with a sea of phone lights and the odd lighter decorating the air. It was at this point that Franceschi handed the mic over to the crowd, in the process losing his grip, as the mic was plunged into the darkness of the photo pit. While the stagehand frantically rushed to retrieve the lost microphone the audience picked up the slack without missing a beat to culminate in magnificent acoustic harmony. 

This tranquil tone was quickly dropped as it was time for “Bite My Tongue” and “Loverboy”, some more well-worn hits that are defining pieces not only for the band but also for British rock canon. During “Save It for the Bedroom” Franceschi informed us it was time to crowdsurf, which the audience took as a personal challenge. It was a frenzy of arms and legs flying all over the venue and spilling over the barrier. One girl close to the front managed to get up and surf multiple times despite being 5 feet from the barrier. This exemplified that the most dedicated fans were in one place, celebrating the fast-approaching end of an iconic British band. Finally, the encore included two more of their newer songs “Deep Cuts” and “Beautiful Way" slotted on either side of the band’s greatest hit “Underdog” (with over 27.7 million streams).

Tonight was a time machine of You Me At Six’s legacy, a legacy that will last longer than anyone could imagine. The whopping 20-song set went back across every album they have ever released and included something for every fan no matter how dedicated or casual. The diversity of the band and the contrast of each album were featured in all aspects of the night’s performance. Amplified by Chris Miller and Max Helyer’s guitar blended with a glorious medley of technology, the warmth of the acoustic session and raw anthems that complimented each other to create a bed of sound that we have come to know as You Me At Six. 

You Me At Six’s triumphant journey over the last 20 years included vulnerability, hope and darkness was all seen tonight in a little over an hour and a half. It was a heartwarming experience filled with nostalgia and raw emotions that was impossible not to be swept up in.

See gallery by Courtney Monroe below