Words by Jamie Giberti & Kim Bates.
A sold out Cambridge Junction on a Wednesday night is always a great thing to see, as it is one of the UK’s best club venues, albeit also one of the sweatiest. With Cambridge boys Mallory Knox set to be in front of their hometown crowd everything was set up for a very special evening.
First up tonight are The Xcerts (7), who from the off capture the interest of the rapidly growing crowd with their unique brand of modern Brit rock. Their sound made them natural touring partners for Mallory Knox, and certainly belied the fact they’re only a three piece band. The closing song “There Is Only You” was haunting and totally captivating in equal measure, and The Xcerts will have left Cambridge with a lot of new fans this evening. JG
While The Xcerts seemed an unknown quantity to many, that definitely wasn’t the case with Set It Off (8) who received a huge reaction. Singer Cody Carson seemed to have dipped into Skindred vocalist Benji Webbe’s wardrobe for an interesting silver shirt that was quickly abandoned (for the best, Benji pulls it off better) as by halfway through second song The Haunting Cody was flying through the audience crowdsurfing.
As discussed in our interview with Max and Cody from Set It Off (coming soon here on Rock Sins!), Set It Off currently don’t have a bassist, which means they are currently using a backing track, which took some getting used to and wouldn’t have gone down well with the purists. But they can be forgiven because they put on such a fun, energetic show, inciting good natured mayhem in the crowd on an almost continuous basis. Hit single Ancient History went down a storm, while the closing Why Worry saw almost the entire floor bouncing, moving and even a circle pit, which isn’t the first thing you’d naturally associate with Set It Off. A set full of great fun, we can’t wait for Set It Off to return to the UK again at the first opportunity! JG
Between Set It Off and Mallory Knox, I met a little fan who was more than excited. I asked him who he came to see, of course his response was Mallory Knox, complimented with a big grin. As the lights when down, I asked what were his favourite songs (Shout at the Moon and Wake Up); knowing full well he’d be a happy kid.
There was a curtain suspended from the lighting rig, hiding the band. Opening with Shout At The Moon, the curtain dropped, Mallory Knox (7) were revealed and the room erupted. No expenses were spared for this tour, the production values were high and Mallory Know were giving the crowd one hell of a show. With every song, the walls shook with most of the room off their feet the entire set; from the opening Shout at the Moon to the closing Lighthouse, mixing tracks from Signals and Asymmetry – including crowd pleasers like Hello, Ghost in the Mirror and Heart & Desire.
Wearing his Cambridge United football jersey, the fans knew Sam was happy to be home, despite being ‘a stone cold killer’ as Mikey described him. Mikey thanked Cambridge pubs for putting them on when everyone thought they were just another Cambridge band. Safe to say that Cambridge, especially that little fan, had one hell of a night; we also thank the Cambridge pub scene! KB
