Theory of a Deadman were one of my favourite bands in my early teen years. As they broke out over here with Scars & Souvenirs and The Truth Is… I saw them a couple of times live. I have to admit, though I enjoyed Savages, I did fall off them for a while with their subsequent couple of releases. However, Dinosaur earlier this year did pull me back into them as it’s a great album (review here). And so, when I got the awesome chance to get in to their show at KK’s Stealmill and chat to their amazing support band, Amongst Liars, I jumped at the chance!
Firstly, it was somehow my first time at the relatively new yet already well renowned venue. And I have to say, I love it. While the floor is so hard that I’d be honestly terrified to pit in there, it’s a great size, you can somehow see the stage from pretty much wherever you are, and the sound was phenomenal.
Having only two bands on the bill, not long after doors opened we launched right into a set from our new friends, Amongst Liars. I was a big fan of their debut album (again, here) so had wanted to see them for a while. They didn’t disappoint in the slightest, either. The band come across a little heavier live as they do on track, which is nice given that a lot of the crowd seemed to be into the more rock side of stuff. And their energy was infectious, with frontman Ian George throwing himself around the stage through the whole set and making it nearly impossible to not at least headbang along.
The only slight shame is that they didn’t have a longer set. However, the band still got to play not only the best selection of tracks off their debut, but their latest single and even dropped in something special off the upcoming new album. Honestly, these guys are well on their way to being massive already, especially after this tour. They put on one of the best shows I’ve seen recently and made it all look so effortless. They’re all majorly talented, and I cannot wait for the new album!
Then we rather quickly moved onto the headliners, anticipation thick in the air. Honestly, they knocked it out of the park, too. The last time I saw the band was over a decade ago at this point, at Rock City back in 2012. I’m old, I know! So, to know that they still very much have it all these years later is great. The band barely look like they’ve aged a day, and seem to sound even better than they did a decade ago.
Opening on new single ‘Dinosaur’, the band quickly launched into crowd favourites like ‘Bitch Came Back’, ‘Not Meant to Be’ and ‘Lowlife’. The newer tracks ‘Ambulance’ and ‘Two of Us’ fit rather perfectly into the set, too. Heck, even ‘History of Violence’ sounded a lot better live than it does on track. Also, the band are clearly having fun on stage. They kept throwing in plenty of teases and covers to keep the crowd guessing. Whether it was the opening verse of ‘Wonderwall’ or ‘Don’t Stop Believin” or their beautiful, powerful piano cover of ‘Wicked Game’, the band did other tracks amazingly and the crowd loved every minute. Other ballads like ‘Santa Monica’ and ‘Angel’ were amazing live, too. And of course, the set closed with mainstays ‘Hate my Life’ and ‘Bad Girlfriend’ (with ‘Rx’ tucked in between) had the crowd in a frenzy by the end.
Theory of a Deadman really feel like a band reborn. I’d heard stories of them not being as good live any more. I’d even seen a couple of videos of recent sets to prove it. However, they were on top form here, and the best I’d ever seen them. They sounded great, had the crowd in the palm of their hands and, most importantly, looked like they were having fun! If you get the chance I would wholly recommend seeing them live, you won’t be disappointed!