With this being my first time seeing Architects since the passing of Tom Searle, I was apprehensive as to whether I would be able to make it through the night and keep myself held together. This was an extremely special show for me, and one that I won't forget. The atmosphere was incredible and it really did feel like we were all there to not only support one another, but to show our support to the rest of the band too.
I don't think there were any two bands that were more deserving of the support slots for this tour. Stick To Your Guns and Bury Tomorrow are two of the most hard working and dedicated bands around, not to mention the insanely supportive fan bases that they bring along with them. This was my first time seeing a whole Stick To Your Guns set from start to end so I was really excited to see how they fared, and I was not disappointed in the slightest. They certainly know how to get a crowd moving. Having seen Bury Tomorrow a fair few times before I knew that they were not going to let Architects down either. They have an insane amount of stage presence and you really can tell that playing shows for us and being able to interact with us during and after the shows means absolutely everything to them. Their set-list consisted of a few older songs too and it was great seeing how many people were singing along to them as well as just their newer music. The bands on this tour have such a passion for people and our environment and the heart warming speeches that each frontman gave during their performances only led me to believe this even more. Emotions were definitely high that night, as I'm sure they were for each date of the tour.
Finally it was time for Architects to take to the stage. The room filled with smoke, lights dimmed and the crowd starting chanting, it was an absolutely insane atmosphere. Architects opened with Nihilist and the crowd went absolutely wild, it was a phenomenal way to show us that they are nowhere near ready to back down just yet. The set-list for the evening consisted of songs from each era, which luckily for me did include songs from their 2009 release Hollow Crown, including Follow The Water which if you know me personally you will know that it's one of my all time favourite Architects songs. Hearing it live will never cease to leave me speechless. It was nearing the end of the show and Sam called for the audience to be quiet for a moment so that he could say a few words. It's remarkable how quickly the room went from total chaos to each individual person giving Sam their full attention. Of course I knew what he wanted to talk about, so I proposed myself as best I could. Sam then thanked everybody on behalf of the whole band for coming out and showing their support during the heartache that they're going through, and told us how amazed Tom would be if he could see how many people showed up that night, and on every other night of the tour too. He then said that the reason they didn't cancel the tour was because they would have felt that they were letting Tom down by giving in, and they wanted to play the shows in memory of him and everything that he has ever done for the band. I couldn't help but notice the empty space on the stage that night, although Josh Middleton from Sylosis did an incredible job of filling in for Architects.
One of my friends actually managed to grab a set list at the end of the show which no matter how old you are is still a pretty neat little souvenir of seeing a band live, and of course he very kindly gave it to me and it now takes pride of place on my wall next to various other gig tickets and signed bits and pieces. At the moment Architects don't seem to be holding back one bit and they keep announcing new tours all over the world which is wonderful to see. I'm uncertain as to whether they will carry on writing, producing or even playing any more shows once they finish touring the new album, but I know that whichever decision they make won't be taken lightly, and as devastating as it would be I would fully respect their decision if they do decide to call it a day. All things aside it was god damn emotional, but incredible evening. It was a whole new Architects experience for me and each time I see them they only make me more and more proud of how far they've come. This was definitely a show that I'll hold close to my heart, and one that I will never forget.
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