After having played Wembley Arena the previous night, it must have been pleasantly sobering for Real Friends to return to their usual venues of a few hundred fans jumping around adoringly in a sweaty circle. Despite being the first time the band had played Birmingham, the majority of the room cheered that they had travelled to see the band previously when lead singer Dan Lambton posed the question.
And it was evident; the lyrics of ‘I’ve Given Up On You’ were hurled back at the band in unison by the crowd. But unlike the night before, where an arena of All Time Low fans will have credited Real Friends on that song, and Neck Deep on ‘A Part of Me’, the crowd a fraction of that size erupted to ‘Skin Deep’, ‘Floorboards’ and ‘Anchor Down’, from the band’s EPs.
Real Friends released their snappy titled first full-length, Maybe This Place Is The Same And We’re Just Changing in July of last year, and it has given the band a greater following over the past months. The album has been more successful than they were expecting, they say in ‘Moving Forward’, a half-hour documentary the band have made available on Youtube.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=boDPxA_7rr8&w=740&h=422]
Finishing with ‘Late Nights In My Car’, Real Friends gave an energetic yet intimate gig that mixed new and old songs that were equally as popular with the crowd, a sign that the band is growing with every tour. With the end of the song, guitarist Dave Knox hopped into the crowd and the band played an unusually heavy rhythm as a huge circle pit formed around him, like a torrent of cars flashing past a roundabout. Great gig.
Words by Ewan