Fightstar @ the Waterfront
Fightstar deliver some mauling brilliance
If you’d have told me the better part of a decade ago that Fightstar would still be kicking around by now I’d have rolled my eyes and made some remark about the odds being better for my aunt visiting the year 3000 than that happening. But here were are. Charlie Simpson and co. are hitting the road on the back of a new album release and none of my close relatives have shot forward through time, so what did I know? Far from a high-profile flash in the pan this band have drawn a dedicated and vocal throng of fans to the Waterfront to sing it out with them for the night.
Support comes in the form of Making Monsters and Arcane Roots. The former are young, raw, and full of promise, cutting their teeth in pretty convincing fashion. In Emma Gallagher they have a bona fide talent of frontwoman and they seem well set to make some waves. Arcane Roots are a little powerhouse of a band. At first glance a slick blend of Biffy Clyro/Manchester Orchestra playing with frantic guitar and skyscraper melodies that lift the room to new heights ahead of the headliners, they have a joyous assurance in their tone that’s nothing short of infectious. Absolute belters.
And then there’s the main attraction. Fightstar have built their sound on the juxtaposition of light and the dark, a brand of post-hardcore that reconciles the savage and the ethereal. Nothing has changed and these transitions in the live arena are seamless and classy. Tracks like the much loved Deathcar and more recent Behind The Devil’s Back take on new life on stage, far more compelling than their studio-confined recordings, though there are moments where the band’s more patient songs – Mono spring to mind – threaten to outstay their welcome. In the end Fightstar play maybe four or five tracks less than you’d want. If they’d gone all out with the heavier hitters for the length of the set then perhaps this lack of stage time would be felt less keenly, an irresistible burst of driven energy instead of a measured performance that just falls short of the apex it’s crying out for.
This is, however, just a reviewer being picky. Fightstar deliver some mauling brilliance, whipping up circle pits at will and blazing through a track list that throws up highlights dating back to Grand Unification, through Palanuik’s Laughter, War Machine and new scorcher Sink With The Snakes. It’s a shame that Alex Westaway’s fragile and vital vocal gets lost in the mix from time to time but otherwise our sound is thick and on point, and ultimately Norwich ends up with a short-lived but dazzling meteor shower of alternative noise.
