When tickets for All Time Low's Wembley show went on sale last year I came to the horrifying realisation that, disgustingly deep into her overdraft, this girl should not be buying any concert tickets for the foreseeable future. Thus, I went through a few months moping about, sad that I hadn't bought a ticket before the show had sold out. In the meantime, ATL announced two intimate acoustic gigs in London to celebrate the near-release of their upcoming album, Future Hearts. I had some Christmas money left over and, at only £12, I bought a ticket, which included not only entry into the venue but also a copy of the album itself upon its release. However, a month or so before the Wembley gig everyone was beginning to get excited about the show and my desperation to find a ticket was renewed. I decided to start a search for a face-value-priced standing ticket, and eventually I managed to find one. My parents bought it for me as an (extremely) early birthday present and I was as happy as could be. The weekend soon arrived, and I was ready to ROCK.
On the afternoon of Friday 20th March I made my way down to Shannon's house and thus began the Shibby and Georgia ATL Weekend. We ate pizza in Shannon's kitchen to prepare ourselves, and then spent 4792742 years getting ready whilst taking shots of some bizarre-tasting vodka (0/10. Would not recommend.) We headed off to Wembley and got in without a hitch, arriving midway through Real Friends' set. Throughout the support slot we just hung out, bopping along to the music (that is, until Neck Deep said something along the lines of "this is the heaviest song we've ever done, let's see you guys mosh" and we decided that was our cue to head back to the bar and buy some drinks).
Eventually ATL came on stage and one of the coolest nights of my life began. They started with A Love Like War which was awesome as expected. Throughout the show I was struck by how overwhelmed the band was to be playing Wembley, how thankful they were that they had finally got to this point. I felt honoured to be a part of it and watch their set and see them soak up the atmosphere that 12,000 fans were creating. I've attended concerts in even bigger venues where the headliner barely seems to notice how impressive the venue is, but All Time Low were truly relishing the importance of their headlining of Wembley and it was such a joy to watch. The setlist was super long (21 songs was fine by me) and they played almost all of my favourites; to name but a few: The Irony of Choking on a Lifesaver, Guts and Time-Bomb. They even played Jasey Rae after all this time and the crowd went wild for it, myself included. They also performed two songs from Future Hearts (Something's Gotta Give and Kids in the Dark).
We were mostly stood towards the back of the crowd because we weren't up for asphyxiating in a mass of moving bodies, and we also wanted space to dance our lil' socks off. A few metres behind us was the sound deck/B-stage and we had a hunch that Alex would perform on there. Midway through the gig the stage went dark and ATL left it empty, and Shibby and I suspiciously picked up our bags and jackets and waited in the darkness for a few moments. I spotted Alex on the mini stage just a few seconds before everyone else did, and we rushed towards him, followed swiftly by the entirety of the rest of the crowd. In a slightly crushing squeeze of people, we had the pleasure of being just a couple of metres away while he performed Remembering Sunday and Therapy. During Remembering Sunday he was joined by the fantastic Cassadee Pope, and as another of my all-time favourite ATL songs to see it so up-close was a wonderful thing to experience. Alex then performed Therapy, and hearing the crowd sing along with such heart was amazing. It's a very precise thing but one of my favourite sounds in the world is hearing crowds sing the words during concerts; no screaming, just one unified voice. People in the audience had their phone lights on and in the darkness they looked like stars in the sky - a perfect backdrop to a perfect scene. After those two songs Alex returned to the main stage with the others and they continued the set.
I spent the whole night dancing (okay, less dancing, more jumping around like a madwoman) and the adrenaline didn’t stop flowing. I sang my heart out to every song and I cannot think of a single thing wrong with the show, apart from the fact that it had to end. Overall, the night was incredible, and I'd go so far as to say it was my favourite gig I've ever been to - the combination of the atmosphere, being with friends, the band itself, the setlist and the venue made it such an unforgettable experience.
I could not allow myself to suffer from Post Concert Depression because alas! The weekend was not over yet. On Sunday I went to the 7pm All Time Low acoustic gig. Again, I met up with Libby and Shannon and we got our train to Kingston. Upon arriving at Kingston station we came up with the plan to "follow the emos" in order to find our way around (a successful theory, in retrospect). I wasn't exactly dressed to queue in such cold weather but we made our way to the venue and got in line, where we were met with a few of our friends at various points. I love ‘band times’ because I not only get to see bands (evidently) but I also get to hang out with the friends I’ve made through their music.
The Kingston setlist was significantly shorter than at Wembley but they still played a lot of my favourites. The atmosphere was definitely different to Friday's show because it was a much smaller venue (from 12,000 to 1,000 capacity you can imagine it wouldn't exactly feel the same). In fact, I loved how small the venue was, and the fact that the band could hear everything audience members were saying to them, from declarations of love to Alex having a conversation with someone who had broken her arm in the mosh at the Wembley show. Ah, the joys of not wearing in-ear monitors. (Note: a pet peeve of mine is people screeching at artists on stage in the middle of a gig, especially when it's gross and vulgar. They aren't going to acquiesce to your obscene exclamations, and even if they wanted to, they're wearing in-ears! They! Can't! Hear! You! … … …Sorry. I’m done.) At one point someone in the audience gave them animal masks, which they all wore for a while, at least, until they realised they couldn't see their instruments with them on. Cassadee Pope came back for Remembering Sunday and was just as great as she had been two days before. A highlight of the acoustic for me was Kids in the Dark; recently it's surprised me by becoming one of my favourites. Alex said told us it was a song they wrote for us and about us, and that we were all 'kids in the dark’. I can’t explain why but for some reason that really resonated with me. That, and all the dick jokes. So many dick jokes.
The set finished with Something's Gotta Give and we all screamed the last line with as much power as we possibly could, and it was such a good way to end the show. The acoustic was so chilled out compared to Wembley, and I’d never been to an acoustic before so it was an interesting change in atmosphere. Nonetheless, I saw no fault with Wembley either - they were two very different experiences. I loved the fact that while physically the Kingston show was way more intimate, somehow in Wembley Arena with more than 10x the number of people, All Time Low maintained this level of intimacy with their audience.
One final thing I want to mention is that gigs are so much better when you go with friends who love the band just as much as you do, and I was really lucky in this respect. Everyone I know who went to one or more of the gigs had the most fun ever, and that's awesome. Seeing Libby and Shannon have the time of their lives at Wembley, briefly meeting up with a super pumped Aimée and Georgina after their earlier acoustic gig, seeing Ash at an All Time Low show a year after our last one together, and watching Natalie absolutely loving her life when ATL played her favourite song - seeing my friends have such an awesome time was a really nice thing to be a part of.
I feel like I could say so much more about my 'All Time Low Weekend' but I'm just going to end up rambling on and on and no one would be interested in reading that, would they? All in all, the weekend was so awesome and I'm looking forward to any future All Time Low gigs I get to attend in the future. It'll be hard to top the Wembley show but, y'know, I'm willing to give it a try if they are.
See you next time!
Georgia
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