2006 was a pretty great time to be a young rock band. Green Day and My Chemical Romance were riding high off the back of career defining albums; meanwhile, the likes of Paramore and Fall Out Boy were breaking out as superstars. If you had a guitar and a fringe you probably also had a major label deal. It’s no surprise then that so many bands have resorted to nostalgia tours for ‘classic’ albums from that period that are decidedly not classics (hi, Hawthorne Heights).
Tonight, London is treated to not one, but two 20th anniversary album celebrations. with Billy Talent performing II and Alexisonfire performing Crisis. Luckily, for all the fans who braved the 40° heat to attend, these are both albums that have stood the test of time played by bands who are still at the peak of their powers.
Even more luckily, fans who arrive early are treated to Touché Amore. The Californian post-hardcore heroes are touring an anniversary set of their own—10 years of their career highlight album Stage Four. Although in this case it’s less of a celebration and more ripping open an old wound. Their 30 minute set unfortunately doesn’t allow them to play the entire album but we do get five of the tracks alongside some other highlights from their catalogue. A combination of a heat wave and an early start on a weeknight means the crowd is relatively thin when Touché start but frontman Jeremy Bolm doesn’t seem to notice. He seems genuinely thrilled to be playing Wembley Arena and screams every word as if he’s headlining to a packed room. The crowd grows throughout the set and by the time Touché finish with New Halloween they seem to have won over the masses.
Up next are, the first of tonight’s two headliners, Billy Talent. II is the consensus fan-favourite album from Billy, and about half the album gets played every night anyway, so early on the set all feels a little familiar. Devil In A Midnight Mass, Red Flag and This Suffering is a great (like, great) opening trio of songs but it’s once we get past those front-loaded singles that the quality of the album really shines. Deep(er) cuts like Worker Bees and The Navy Song are received by tonight’s crowd as if they’re ‘Livin On A Prayer’ and the band are clearly loving it just as much as the audience. Frontman Ben Kowalewicz is on great form, clearly relishing just how much space he has to run around and play to every corner of the crowd.
The biggest treat of the set is seeing Billy Talent finally giving the UK fans the big rock show production. They’ve always played big rooms in their native Canada and (for some reason) Germany but we’ve never seen the arena rock version of Billy Talent on these shores. On tonight’s evidence it’s possibly their best form. Choruses and personalities this big belong on stages like Wembley and, while it might be for one night only, it feels like a well-earned victory lap for a band who always deserved a bit more than they got here.
Closing the night is Alexisonfire, performing Crisis in full. The contrast between tonight’s two headliners is apparent from the start with Alexis offering something a little more challenging and certainly less arena-rock-ready to tonight’s audience. On a night of celebration and nostalgia tracks like You Burn First and Rough Hands might stand out for the wrong reasons. Fortunately, AOF are on unstoppable form tonight, and any concerns are blown away by the opening one-two of Drunks, Lovers, Sinners And Saints and This Could be Anywhere In The World. With George Pettit, Wade MacNeil and Dallas Green, AOF are hogging three of post hardcore’s best frontmen, and the way they play off each other throughout and trade vocals elevates Alexisonfire beyond any of their contemporaries.
Full-album shows can be tricky, with fans realising as they get to the back end why some of those tracks never get played live. Co-headline shows can be tricky, with an audience split 50-50 meaning neither band gets the reception they deserve. A co-headliner with both bands playing an album in full shouldn’t work. but as AOF close out the night with an extended version of Happiness By The Kilowatt you couldn’t describe tonight as anything other than a huge success.
Alexisonfire and Billy Talent have much more of a combined history than you may initially think (they even shared a drummer for several years). Tonight, everyone inside Wembley Arena seems to recognise that shared history and is here to celebrate both bands equally. Whilst the show was in celebration of albums from 20 years ago, the feeling at the end of the night is that both bands may only be hitting their peak now.
Words by Gary King
