LIVE: While She Sleeps Album Launch @ Plug, Sheffield, 21/04/2017

There are certain sentences in the English language that are purely designed to make the hair on the back of your neck stand up. Until now my personal favourite of those phrases has been “pizza’s ready” but that has now been replaced by “While She Sleeps in a 400 capacity venue”. Never in my life did I think I’d get to witness what I witnessed on Friday night..My favourite band of all time supported by one of the best metalcore bands going in the form of In Hearts Wake and the surprisingly good Fizzy Blood.

Leeds based rock group Fizzy Blood were first of the night and I’ll be honest in regard to this, I had made a complete snap judgement based on one song which is completely unlike me, but in this case I’d heard them and immediately went, “Why the f**k are they supporting While She Sleeps?” I maintained that attitude all the way to the gig, and for that I would like to apologise because they couldn’t have proved me more wrong. Fizzy Blood delivered a much heavier sound than I ever could have anticipated. I questioned whether the performance they put on had been somewhat amped up with them knowing the crowd they were playing to but whatever they did worked. I loved every single second of their set to the point where I left with their vinyl. I only wish they’d received a bigger turn out so more people could have enjoyed their set, so thank you Fizzy blood for proving me wrong and putting on a monster performance.

Moving on to In Hearts Wake…what can I even say? The Australian heavy music scene just seems to breed raw talent. Parkway Drive, Northlane, Deez Nuts, I Killed The Prom Queen, Hellions… the list goes on and In Hearts Wake are absolutely no exception. They were constantly interacting with the crowd, pointing, smiling and getting them involved and they had everyone in the palm of their hands. There’s just something so endearing about a band that you can see are enjoying their selves which they really were, from older songs like Healer to new ones like Warcry they were consistent and quite a few people were lucky enough to have that be their first times hearing them and I couldn’t help but be envious.

Finally I can talk about the absolute monsters that are While She Sleeps. I’ve grown up with this band, I heard them for the first time shortly after the release of The North Stands For Nothing which was released 7 years ago in the same small room at Plug in Sheffield as You are We and ever since The North Stands For Nothing I was hooked. I was also lucky enough to see them support Bring Me The Horizon, Architects and The Devil Wears Prada back in 2011 at the o2 Academy in Sheffield. A gig like that isn’t one you forget and I say that from experience, so having seen them multiple times over the years I can honestly say they have grown and grown into an entirely different animal.

The way While She Sleeps command a room during their live performances is daunting when you’re stood in the middle of it with a camera, especially when Oli Sykes of Bring Me The Horizon flies onto the stage for his guest spot in Silence Speaks. It also shows how much respect this band have accumulated in the local community and they have gained the respect of countless other people with the means in which the new album was released. The sheer fact that numerous people knew every single word to the new songs when the album had only been released 19 hours prior to the release show is incredible and there isn’t enough praise I can give to them and their fan base. If you haven’t already picked up a copy of You Are We which is the first album released independently by While She Sleeps you’re truly missing out. All in all every band on the lineup tonight absolutely smashed it, it was a special evening for a phenomenal band embarking on the next step of their career.