Amusement Parks on Fire / Plans and Apologies

Having never been to gig on my own before I approached this one with some slight apprehension. Luckily I picked the perfect show to try out solo gig going as Nottingham’s Amusement Parks on Fire are a band whose live performance is one to lose yourself in as it takes you to another planet.

Before the main attraction we were treated to an entertaining support set from up and coming band Plans and Apologies. Having successfully supported the likes of The Killers before, the band took to the stage and performed a polished set that was full of charisma. Their sound is a hard one to pin down, coming across like the melodic moments of The Smiths mixed with the pop sentiments of Hefner with a healthy dose of Pavement thrown in for good measure. They provided us with a varied set mixing songs from their album “Torn Out Pages From The Middle Agez” with brand new songs that whilst not sounding as polished as their more familiar counterparts, oozed potential. I’ve seen this band several times now and they are certainly ones to keep an eye on. Oh and quote of the night went to them too, “We want you to BUY our CD. We’re not the fucking Arctic Monkeys”, brilliant.

It is easy to draw comparisons between Amusement Parks on Fire and many of the bands from the shoegazing scene. However there is something a lot heavier and dare I say it, more fun about their live performance that sets them apart from bands such as Ride and My Bloody Valentine. Frontman Michael Feerick even commented during the set that he was “having too much fun to be looking at my shoes”.

The band that I was most reminded of during the performance was My Vitriol. There are clear musical similarities between the two, although in my humble opinion, Amusement Parks on Fire have taken the torch from My Vitriol and ran a mile with it, giving a much stronger and more entertaining live performance than I’ve ever seen from the London rockers.

We were treated to a stunning set that was based around the songs that make up the band’s self titled album, favourites including the Swervedriver style stomp of “Smokescreen” and the amazing “Venus in Cancer”. Screams of feedback echoed around the venue, as song after song the band produced beautiful emotive sounds with a harsh raw edge, it was intense to say the least. Brains behind the outfit, Feerick, was a captivating frontman rolling around the stage whilst stunning the crowd with his ethereal guitar parts, even taking to his knees for one climactic ending to a song. He was clearly having just as much fun as those who had paid to see him.

Despite the band being clearly influenced by their early nineties shoegazing colleagues, Amusement Parks on Fire managed to sound fresh and interesting for their entire set and certainly left me wanting more. It was a breath of fresh air in a world otherwise full of dull NME endorsed garage rock. The pun you have all been waiting for is now here, don’t you worry! Amusement Parks on Fire were indeed on fire!

FUTURE GIGS

sorry, we currently have no gigs listed for this act.