September 2016 has brought on Against the Current’s first UK tour since releasing their debut album In Our Bones. Supporting them was Beach Weather and As It Is, with both bands gearing up the crowd up for ATC with high levels of crowd interaction and on stage antics. You could almost feel the techies screaming inside every time Patty Walters swung the mic like a lasso.
Against the Current began their set with their hit Runaway, which gained immediate excitement from the crowd. Chrissy Constanza went straight in with all the energy she had, jumping around the stage whilst maintaining strong and consistent vocals; which is not easy when you’re propelling yourself around the stage. Now personally, I’m a huge fan of a female fronted band and Against The Current are one of the best up and coming bands around right now. Not only are they musically talented, but Chrissy chats to the audience between songs and makes jokes such as how nervous sweat apparently smells worse that normal sweat and that right now “I [CC] am the living proof of that”. Potentially, the boys could partake more in the conversing with the crowd, Dan occasionally popping up to chat to the audience and Will tucked into his drums barely said a word.
However all three members were on top form. Seeing them live really emphasises Wills percussive ability and Dan was able to show off a lot more whilst running around the stage with Chrissy, than is possible when hidden behind a studio recording. Their recent album has shown the titanic capability that Chrissy possesses in the form of her vocals, and even though she relaxed a little during the acoustic songs and allowed the audience to sing back a lot, she excelled during the last few songs.
The sixth song they performed was introduced with an honest heartfelt dedication by a choked up Chrissy to a friend Julius who passed away recently. Lyrics such as “red like the roses I laid on your grave” entrapped the audience into her emotive state, which highlighted her dedication to the moment. After the emotional interlude, ATC went back to their roots as a cover band on YouTube and covered ‘Teenagers; by My Chemical Romance, which drew adulation from those in attendance. At one point, three stools were brought to the front of the stage and both boys came and sat. Will brought down his tambourine and shaker and Will had his acoustic guitar. During the acoustic songs the initimacy between the band and crowd was at it’s peak and added a different atmosphere to proceedings.
Hopefully it won’t be too long until the Poughkeepsie threesome are back in the country, and fingers crossed they’ll all be healthy. Since the band are only growing in popularity and talent it shouldn’t be too long until they’re back.