Billy Talent: Live Review

 

“Look at how young they are!” says Ben Kowalewicz two songs in. I can’t help but agree with him.

I’ve always seen punk pop as a teenage thing, really. It’s been a good while since I’ve listened to the sing-along choruses and relentless power chords of Billy Talent and the like. Keen to relive my youth, though, I donned my St Pauli t-shirt (it has a skull and crossbones on it), Converse and the most brightly coloured hoodie I own and made for the Academy.

Arriving at the venue, I was instantly assaulted by the sound of Don Bronco. Heavy, repetitive and with no discernible melody, their saving grace was the recent single Beautiful Day and the fact that they left the stage shortly after I arrived.

Much more involving was AWOLNATION. From the outset, Aaron Bruno bounds around the stage with an affable awkwardness, culminating at one point with the mic dropping to the floor mid song. It’s clear that his main aim is to get everyone at the Academy up and dancing. “I can see the dancefloor is ready to explode” he says enthusiastically between songs, “we are all AWOLNATION”.
Many Billy Talent fans – including one very emphatic one next to me – are calling solely for ‘Sail’, a song which has been everywhere recently. Although determined to hear the one song and move on, in the end they find it hard to resist the overdriven, crunch riffs punctuated with electronica and Bruno’s distinctive howl. With a build-up of ‘Kill Your Heroes’ and ‘Not Your Fault’ prior to the much
anticipated ‘Sail’, by the end of the set, everyone mosh-danced along regardless.

I have to admit – I don’t know that much Billy Talent. I’ve always heard the odd song and thought that they were a band I would like, but never really took the time to listen properly. Before coming to this gig I made a point of listening through to the new album Dead Silence.

And this is what I love about pop punk. Despite having only heard the album briefly I found myself singing along to ‘Running Across the Tracks’, ‘Surprise Surprise’ and others I’ve never heard like ‘Standing in the Rain’. Kowalewicz, D’Sa and Gallant’s interesting use of harmonies, layered over never-ending powerchords and octaves serve highlight their sing-along choruses. Kowalewicz’
distinctive, brattish lead vocal never lets the melodies fall below the instrumentation and imbues the songs with urgency.

In truth whole show feels like one long chorus. Political messages lost along the wayside as the vocal melodies drag you through the jagged guitars. Perhaps this is a style of music that loses depth live, but that doesn’t destroy any of the fun. As if to counteract this, Kowalewicz gets a few jibes at Romney in between songs, the American being decided that evening. We all cheer and pray for a
good result.

Regardless of how old they say they feel in front of this youthful bunch, Billy Talent still have the combination of energy and vitriol for an engaging, energising set. It also helps that they have the hooks to back it up. It’s that infectious energy that will always drag me back to bands like this, wearing St. Pauli tee, no matter how little I know them.

It makes me feel teenage again.