American-fronted English Pop-Punk band As It Is took to the stage Tuesday night to kick off the European part of their tour for third album “The Great Depression”; an album that explores the current social climate and themes of mental health. The band consists of American-born singer Patty Walters joined by Benjamin Langford-Biss on guitar, Alistair Testo on bass, Patrick Foley on drums and recent addition Ronnie Ish on lead guitar.
Coming off a 29 date North American tour with a only a day and a half down-time As It Is jumped quite literally into the start of their European dates which will see them supporting Enter Shikari over the next two months along with some solo shows.
The band opened with three songs (The Wounded World, The Two Tongues and The Great Depression) from their latest record. Amongst the set list was also their cover of The Postal Service’s “Such Great Heights” which featured on the compilation album “Songs That Saved My Life” from Hopeless Records/Sub City Records. Throughout the set, there was plenty of love given to the crowd from the band, with guitarists Benjamin and Ronnie nearly engulfed by the crowd whilst handing out fist bumps.
The crowd was small in The Academy’s Green Room on a wet and cold Tuesday night. This however, didn’t have any impact on the energy brought forward by both the band and the loyal fans. I’ve found this to be the case with punk music regardless of sub genre nuances, there is always a “we are one” ethos. This was evident on the night when the set got interrupted briefly by a security issue. The dilemma saw some of the members of the band leave the stage to come to the aid of a fan and act as peacekeepers.
The set continued on with the same energy and love as was before. Patty took time to talk about his recent mental health struggles before serenading the crowd with two acoustic songs to bring the tempo down for a much needed rest for the relentless crowd. The set was topped off by the fan favorite “The Stigma” which was sung by the now worn out vocal chords of the crowd.
Check out the rest of their tour dates here where they’ll be joining Enter Shikari on tour before hitting up the summer festivals including Slam Dunk, the premiere Punk/Alternative music festival in England.
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