Of Mice and Men, Memphis May Fire and Secrets at Electric Ballroom

Wednesday the 10^th of October saw the Electric Ballroom in Camden play host to American heavyweight rockers Of Mice and Men, Memphis May Fire and special guests Secrets. As always the stale smell of sweat and larger greeted you at the door alongside an air of excitement, anticipation and energy.

Secrets were the first to take the stage, formed of Xander Bourgeois, Michael Sherman, Richard Roger, Marc Koch and Joe English. The five-piece rockers mix two very different sounds in their post-hardcore genre of rock. Bourgeois provides the scream vocals which is then complimented by Roger’s melodic soft pop-punk voice combining to create a truly original sound. The band did a great job at warming up the crowd although it was obvious most were saving their energy for the main event.

By the time Memphis May Fire exploded onto the stage with their monstrous and powerful sound the crowd was alive with hundreds of fans ready to rock, mosh and unite in the bands performance. Although it took them till around mid-set to settle into their performance, once they got there they captivated the audience and electrified the whole room. Highlights included The Victim and Legacy. Having had more than a few line-up changes since their formation in 2006, the combination of Cory Elder, Kellen McGregor, Matty Mullins, Jake Garland and Anthony Sepe seemed to be one of their strongest yet. Promoting their album Challenger, released earlier in the year, the band made great use of the audience energy and delivered a memorable and exciting set.

Of Mice and Men were undoubtedly the main event, the moment they stepped on stage they were greeted by deafening rumbles of appreciation. The band adopted their name from the famous novel based on a quote in the book reading “the well laid plans of mice and men often falter.” Whether or not they have a plan, what they are doing is defiantly not at fault, the band’s musicality was superb and their stage presence, huge. Lead vocalist Austin Carlile worked the stage as if it were his throne, energetically throwing himself around and moshing on stage. Definitely a fan pleaser Carlile remained engaged with the crowd throughout, ordering them to part and collide and rallying them up. Aaron Pauley, who is currently touring with the band as bass guitarist and clean vocalist, melded with the lead perfectly creating a jaw-dropping performance of power and emotion in all the right quantities, not an easy feat for a screamo band who all to often forget the importance of balance and clarity. Overall the 5 members, also including Valention Arteaga, Phil Manasala and Alan Ashby, gave the crowd a fantastic and awe inspiring set, literally extracting every last ounce of energy from their audience.

An excellent line up of Rise Records bands, they all gave fantastic energy fuelled performances leaving the audience fully satisfied. Secrets release their new full length album produced by Tom Denney on November 1^st, Memphis May Fire‘s Challenger is available for purchase now and Of Mice and Men‘s two-disc album The Flood is also available for purchase now. For more information on the bands or to listen to their music please visit the links below.

Ruth Page

For further information about SECRETS visit their website here.

For further information about Memphis May Fire visit their Myspace page here.

For further information about Of Mice And Men visit their Facebook page here.