Jake Longhurst reviews as Knocked Loose take Nottingham's Rescue Rooms on the longest day of the year.
Knocked Loose are a metallic hardcore band from Kentucky, who have been creating some seismic waves in the scene over the last few years. Their second LP, A Different Shade Of Blue, caused heads to turn and people really took a shining to the bruising crew from the Bluegrass State. After the release of their recent EP A Tear In The Fabric Of Life they have been shown some serious love, touring with bands like Bring Me The Horizon amongst others, and have made it back to the UK for a second go in just a few months as headliners, also making time for a couple festival slots.
When the tour was originally announced, nobody I knew really knew any of the supports, but we all decided to wing it and just discover them on the night, which turned out to cause some mild confusion, as I will go into more detail about shortly. Turning up to pre-drinks with a collection of alt mates, we were chatting about the varying concerts we were all off to that night: Nova Twins, Waterparks, and of course Knocked Loose, when someone mentioned that apparently the lead singer of Knocked Loose, Bryan Garris, was caught in a travel incident and would have to miss tonight’s show. Naturally a fair few of us were a bit annoyed, although most of the group will be seeing them again at 2000Trees Festival in a couple of weeks, so it’s not too big a deal. We ended up getting pretty excited to be seeing a rather unique concert where their guitarist and backing vocalist Isaac Hale palmed off his string duties and took over all the singing for the night.
Once we had arrived, we realised abruptly that the tour lineup was ever so slightly left field, as alluded to earlier. There were four bands on the bill - Despize, Soft Kill, Choir Boy, and of course Knocked Loose. Despize played a similar brand of pummelling hardcore to the headliners, but Soft Kill and Choir Boy were altogether ever so slightly different beasts. Both bands were far more in line with shoegaze or dream pop than with the discordant, distorted sound of the hosts, which made for a mighty strange evening, going from sweaty mosh pits to slow swaying, then back again to another sweaty mosh pit, albeit a much bigger and nastier one. Whilst it might seem counterintuitive, The Smiths and my bloody valentine-influenced Soft Kill and Choir Boy did actually provide an immensely enjoyable time, especially with Choir Boy showing off some wonderful vocals. Lead singer of the band Adam Klopp used to be called 'choir boy’ as a way to bully him when he fronted punk bands in Ohio, but he has since reclaimed it as the name of his band which he fronts with impressive stage presence and a stunning voice.
"We ended up getting pretty excited to be seeing a rather unique concert where their guitarist and backing vocalist Isaac Hale palmed off his string duties and took over all the singing for the night."
However, we were not there for beautiful dream pop songs, no matter how lush. The headline act came on stage an hour later than originally planned, after the news of Garris not making the concert pushed stage times back, so it was 10:00 when they got on stage and you could tell the crowd was a little tired by then, but my god did they bring the energy back into the room. Rarely has a mosh pit at a concert felt so much like the name of the band playing the gig, but I can tell you for a fact that every single person in that mosh pit was truly knocked loose. The set was incredible, featuring some of their old songs as well as new bangers, and they played it in the true hardcore style with barely a minute to breathe and not letting up till the end of the set. No encore for them, it was straight through from first song to last. Highlights of the set included the excellent Mistakes Like Fractures, and the ridiculous Counting Worms, but most of the set could be included on a highlights list without anyone batting an eyelid. Not only were the band incredible live, the crowd made the concert even more special, and I am all the more excited to see them again after such a mind-blowing display of live music. This is not a band to ignore.
Jake Longhurst
Edited by: Jodie Averis
Cover image and in-article image courtesy of The Mic's own Kerenza Hudson.
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