The Role Models Tour

The Bottom Line, Landmarks, Falling for Grace, Empty Space, The Molatovs and Koal

March 2nd and 3rd, 2014

Retro Bar Manchester and The Brink Liverpool.

In April last year I had the pleasure of encountering the Bottom Line during the 8 Bit Frenzy Tour, but unfortunately because of the dates that I attended I didn't get the chance to hear them play, however, I bought their CD and really enjoyed it.  Now almost a year later I finally got to hear them play live!

The Bottom Line are currently doing an eight date UK tour and are changing the support bands for each date of the tour, as they are being supported by local bands from each of the cities they are visiting.

We first caught up with them in Manchester at the Retro Bar Basement.  It was my first time at this venue which is a small pub/club on Stanley Street.  The basement venue is a small room at the bottom of a couple of flights of very narrow stairs and boasts a bar and a small stage.

The Liverpool venue however was much bigger and brighter.  The Brink was also a unique venue in itself as it is a 'dry bar'.  It was set up as a recovery venue to support people who have suffered through alcoholism and addiction, and therefore it has no alcohol on the premises policy.  It is a very light room and the complete opposite from the dimly lit room the night before.  Not your usual setting for a punk rock show!

I am only going to do very brief reviews of each of the supports as there were so many across the two nights. 

First up tonight were Koal.  These guys had a good sounds and some good guitar riffs.  They played original songs and last song they played had me tapping my foot along and sounded great!

The Molotovs were next and unfortunately it was not their night.  Their set was made up of covers including Rage Against The Machine's 'Killing In The Name Of' and Blur's 'Song 2' and they didn't do a very good job. The young lady singing was flat and out of tune on many occasions during the set and it seemed a little under rehearsed. 

Empty Space where next.  These guys only played four songs, consisting of two instrumentals that I really enjoyed, and covers of Bowling For Soup's 'When We Die' and Patent Pending's 'One Less Heart To Break', (which are two of my favourite songs by those two bands).  I openly admit that I am not a fan of female fronted bands as they can be too high pitched for my liking, and therefore I would have been happier if the young lady singing had dropped an octave or two as she seemed to be singing a little high for her range and it sounded strained in places.  From the style of their instrumental pieces they would really benefit from a good male singer.

The Landmarks played support at both the Manchester and Liverpool shows.  These guys had more of a metal feel to them, even if they did open their set with their metal version of 5ive's 'Keep On Movin', which strangely worked.  The rest of their set was made up of original material which if I'm honest had a much better sound at the Liverpool show than the Manchester show, but I think that was because of the venue, as the Liverpool venue seemed to have much better acoustics.

Also supporting in Liverpool were Falling For Grace.  These guys had a rock feel and did covers of You Me At Six's 'Save It For The Bedroom' and  Taylor Swift's 'We Are Never Getting Back Together' as well as some original material of their own.  These guys had a good presence and a great sound.

For me the highlight of both night's were headliners The Bottom Line, who are a three man pop punk band from the UK's south coast consisting of Callum on guitar and vocals, Max on bass and vocals and Matt on drums. 

The Bottom Line hit the stage with album title track 'Role Models?' and continued to play through songs from their album such as 'When You're Around' and 'Life Of The Dip Guy'.

At the Manchester show we were treated to two of my favourites, 'Thursdays Bad Luck' and 'I've Gotta Quit Kidding Myself', whereas at the Liverpool show we got to hear 'Drive Thru Night', and both shows got a very energetic version of 'Teenage Dirt Bag' (originally by Wheatus).

Finishing with their latest single 'Record Player' (check out the official video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tupYHg94AAo), the guys left the stage to cheers and applause from the audience.

The Bottom Line guys had loads of energy and looked as though they were really enjoying playing. They had a great rapport with the audience and had the whole crowd smiling, bouncing and joining in.

 

I may have had to wait almost a year to hear them play live but they were definitely worth the wait!