Fightstar / Larruso / In Case Of Fire - 53 Degrees, Preston


Opening the night were Larusso, an energetic up-beat five-piece from Sheffield. Although the band were a little less heavy than the headline act this evening, they seemed to fit in well. With a little bit of early ‘Lostprophets’ about the delivery of the music the band had the crowd clapping and jumping together in unison. By the end of their set ‘Larruso’ seemed to get comfortable, and so did the crowd, opening up for the first  ‘pit’ of the night.

Second on, were up and coming three piece ‘In Case Of Fire’. Donning their usual outfit, black shirt, black jeans and a red stripe on the sleeve, ‘In Case Of Fire’ displayed a rare talent you don’t see much of today. The confidence and musical ability of the band has soared since the last time I saw ‘In Case Of Fire’, the vocal talent, displayed by Steven Robinson could be described as epic. The band clearly take their influences from bands such as ‘Mars Volta’, and I don’t think they would mind me saying that their influences shine through.

By the time ‘Fightstar’ took to the stage, the crowd were in high spirits and sufficiently warmed up, this could be due to the incredibly hot temperature of the room, or most probably the excellent performances of the previous two bands. ‘Fightstar’, have recently released a new album, the crowd had turned up expecting to hear these new tracks, and I personally was interested to hear how they replicated the orchestral sounds live. The band did not fail to deliver, and they threw in some of the old favourites for good measure. Favourites such as ‘Death Car’, ‘Floods’ and ‘Phalanuik’s laughter’ perfectly complimented new songs such as the awesome sing a long ‘War Machine’ and the latest single ‘Mercury Summer’. ‘Fightstar’ have already been much more successful with their latest offerings and the album, ‘Be Human’ cost them much less to produce than ‘One Day Son this Will All Be Yours’. The radio and television airtime they are receiving from tracks such as ‘The English Way’ extend further than any of their songs had done previously. This excitement that is building for Fightstar’ shines through in their on stage presence. The songs played tonight sound even bigger than ever, especially with the inclusion of synthesised orchestra instruments, of which were conducted by the drummer using trigger pads (or so I think they were).

Although guitarist Alex Westaway’s vocals were a little rusty tonight, due to a repeating throat infection that would also cause them to cut the set a few songs short, ‘Fightstar’ performed as confidently as ever. I have said it more than once that ‘Fightstar’ are a hard working band that deserve any of the attention they receive. The songs the band produce are consistently brilliant, and the live performances they offer have a very similar effect. ‘Fightstar’ can leave you gasping for air and aching for more, but they can also leave you feeling incredibly satisfied all at the same time.

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