Defeater at the Underworld

Defeater returned to the Underworld in Camden on the crisp evening of Friday 6th July. Supported by Former Thieves and Polar, they entertained thrilled fans with their hardcore innovations, mostly from their last record Endless Days and Sleepless Nights.

Since the first chords, there was no doubt about the type of gig held at the Underworld. Drummer Andy Reitz started playing and water balloons were thrown from the stage to the audience as a way to transfer rhythm and energy to the public.

They played Dear Father, Empty Glass, White Oak Doors and Cemetery Walls from Endless Days and Sleepless Nights, plus Cowardice (Travels) and The Red White and Blues (Lost Ground) among the others, showing in full their rhythmic liveliness and dynamically varied guitar work.

Suddenly, the front man Derek Archambault walked on stage with his acoustic guitar and delighted his fans with the famous I Don’t Mind, a slower straight-up, earthy folk track that warmed up the crowd for the second half of the show.

Soon after the band joined in for The Red White and Blues, welcomed by fist-pumping and head-banging fans who performed mass amounts of stage dives shouting and spreading a rampant energy that lasted throughout the gig.

Defeater gave a great performance. Their guitar solos and turns were simply stunning. Derek pumped up the crowd jumping around, the bassist despite the fact he played facing the wall shined with his intense bass background during the show.

They are a melodic hardcore band from Massachusetts, US, and have released three albums: Travels (2008), Lost Ground (2009), Empty Days and Sleepless Nights (2011) and are signed to Bridge Nine Records.

Defeater are part of The Wave, a new regional post-hardcore music movement, featuring bands such as La Dispute, Make Do and Mend, Touch Amore and Pianos Become the Teeth. Each member of the band is active locally and they are particularly committed towards the environment, as they toured the States in a converted veggie van and printed their last record on 100% recyclable materials.

Defeater will tour Europe for the next two months before heading to Australia in September.

                                                  Annalisa Ratti

For further information and future gigs visit Defeater’s website here.

Listen to I Don’t Mind here: