You Me At Six - Manchester Academy.

 

2400 young, excited and extremely well made up girls and boys scream with excitement as the lights in the Academy dim. A white curtain covers the view of the stage. Slowly the silhouettes of You Me At Six appear. The noise is piercing.

The fivesome energetically storm through 'Jealous Minds Think Alike,' 'Gossip,' and 'album title track 'Take Off Your Colours.' Their dedicated fans sing word for word while staring lovingly up  at the band.  The fivesome are clearly thrilled with the reaction. Feeding off the crowd’s energy they bound around the stage, throwing themselves into every song.

 

 

Unfortunately their weaknesses are shown early on. For a band desperate to separate their image from comparisons to Fall Out Boy and Panic At The Disco they do nothing on stage to help themselves.

Their cover of FOB's 'Sugar We're Going Down' is not a well thought out decision. Despite a rapturous reaction from the crowd it instantly installs the likeness in a neutrals mind.

The material You Me At Six possess is not strong enough to capture people's attention long-term. The first half of their set-list merges into one, not that their satisfied fans care. There are few bands out there that receive such dedication and such adoration.

During the second half of the set you begin to see a small moment of promise; A reason why this band are worthy of being labeled one of Britain's new favourite bands. There are signs that the Surrey band could dodge past the rather skin deep world of their cotemporaries and create something worthy of being labeled individual. 'Tiger and Sharks' builds into heavy choruses and 'If I Were in Your Shoes' is a good pop song.

Perhaps the greatest change could come from frontman Josh Franceschi. His vocals are consistent all night but the disappointment comes from his lack of adventure. It's obvious he has a scream in him. At one point it almost sneaks out but unfortunately it was kept under wraps. It would add something extra, some guts and power to a sound that fits nicely into the American pop genre. You get the feeling that isn't enough for You Me At Six though. It would be nice to see them take a chance and really let rip. They're young. They're ambitious and they have a chance to find their own sound. Lets hope they do.  

 

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