AWOLNATION LIVE @ The Waterfront, Norwich 31.05.14

On the last day of their UK headline tour, American electronic rock band AWOLNATION certainly didn’t hold back. The band released their debut album ‘Megalithic Symphony’ in 2011, although, you probably know them for their single, ‘Sail’. Opening with ‘Guilty Filthy Soul’, AWOLNATION shocked me at how heavy they are live, much more so than the album. I was sceptical at first, as I am not usually a fan of heavy music, however by the end of the night, my opinion was completely changed by the incredible, surreal experience.

awolnation-51a804728954fThirty seconds in and the band had already successfully gotten the small, but exceedingly enthusiastic crowd simultaneously jumping, singing and clapping to such a degree that I could feel the floor tremble. They follow this with the catchy ‘People’, before complimenting Norwich’s river and launching into ‘Not Your Fault’, their second single. Accompanied by an impressive strobe lighting sequence, it did feel very out-of-this-world. Jumping in unison in the intimate venue made me realise just how much music means to me.

Fourth in their setlist was ‘Thiskidsnotalright’, a 2013 single, which was rudely interrupted by a loud blast followed by a very confused looking band. However, the loyal crowd continued to chant along. Turns out it was a broken PA system, to which frontman Aaron Bruno shouts “fuck the PA, fuck the police” which, unsurprisingly, gained a tremendous amount of crowd appreciation.

Continuing regardless of the PA system, AWOLNATION play their upbeat new song ‘Kooks’, followed by three more energetic songs off their debut album. Ninth in their setlist was their calmest song, ‘All I Need’. Aaron Bruno instructed the worn-out audience to place their arm on the shoulder of the person next to them. For me, it was one of my best friends who I rarely get to see, so with lyrics with ‘All I need is you beside me’ it was rather emotional to say the least.

They play ‘Some Kind Of Joke’ before the much awaited ‘Sail’, which got the crowd chanting along to the guitar riffs. The song had such an impact that it gave me goose bumps…and it certainly was not cold in the slightest. In that exact moment, I forgot every worry and felt free, infused by the music I even closed my eyes at one stage which felt rather hallucinatory. Twelfth, they play the rebellious song ‘Burn It Down’. The area in front of the stage was so tightly packed with sticky people, when Aaron Bruno asked us to “get down” there was almost a human pyramid. After a count of three, he instructed everyone to jump up, which went surprisingly well with no known casualties. We kept taking steps forward as more and more people were being dragged into the most pit.

awolnation_uktour_may2014Ending up in a completely different position to where we started, AWOLNATION walked off stage, causing chanting of “we want more!” repeatedly. Emerging, rather promptly, back on stage to a roar of applause, the band apologise about how they’ll have to ‘rush through’ their final, 15-minute long track, ‘Knights Of Shame’ a fun song, although they did lose me slightly towards the end. The band continued to instruct everyone to dance, however the crowd were so drained and burned out, they had no life left.

Overall, AWOLNATION put on an extremely fun night, and despite the technology fault, they kept their strong stage presence and definitely did not disappoint. AWOLNATION are so much more than ‘Sail’ – give them a listen if you get a chance.