Michael Cera Palin support by Buds. + Brutalligators
What do a beloved Canadian actor and a Republican politician have in common? One of the greatest emo groups of the fifth wave of course!
If you're not familiar,
Michael Cera Palin are an emo band from Atlanta, Georgia who formed in 2015 and have just returned from their 5 year hiatus
with a new album -
'We Could Be Brave'. For this album release the band has embarked on an extensive UK and EU tour. I was
lucky enough to catch the band on their last night in the UK, in the tiny venue above the Old Blue Last in Shoreditch, London.
I rock up to the show about 45 minutes early (novice move) and then proceeded to wait outside the pub awkwardly attempting to strike conversation with who
I later, and very embarrasingly discovered were the record label staff who had organised the show. I found some other awkward looking emos soon enough and
recived not one but two awesome zines from
this cool person.After much small talk it was time to go inside,
and I quickly purchased a CD and had a fleeting conversation with
Michael Cera Palin's lovely bassist, Jon, as to be expected I was totally awkward and shy but it was super cool experience you just don't get at bigger shows.
The first band up were
Brutalligators, who I had listened to a few songs of in preparation but didn't know that well. The room had started to fill up at this point and it was already
getting pretty hot and sweaty which is to be expected in a tiny windowless room. Brutalligators were the perfect opening act to get everyone in the spirit of things and although it was going to get alot crazier
later the crowd was having a great time. They are really brilliant live, if you ever have a chance to see them you will not be disappointed!
Brutalligators
Next was
Buds., who I also didn't know very well but I think I must of been in the minority because like everyone was singing along lol. They really blew me away as well,
the energy was incredible! On their last song the guitarist dove into the crowd, which was not actually his only time doing that this night lol. Really fun performers, music
was excellent - good times were had.
Then it was time for the headliners,
Michael Cera Palin. Just to preface, although they had just come out with a new album this was their second show in London
so they had already played the full album and had mentioned at that show that this one was going to be mainly 'old stuff'. The room was jam packed, the walls were sweating and I was - regretfully - positioned about 3 people back from the stage squashed against
a bench (this will be important later). As the opening notes of their 2016 song,
Growing Pains rung out the crowd went
mental. I was quickly thrown against the bench as the mosh pit opened up, which would happen about 50 times over - reminder
to self don't stand in a corner at a show unless you want the wall to hit you. The mosh pit was crazy - probably the most cheerful one I've ever seen, it didm't make it less terrifying to me though as a 5ft5 woman, however I did see some women
in the pit who looked like they were having a great time, so good for them! The band were absolutely breathing new light into their old songs proving just how good they've gotten since their hiatus. A highlight for me was hearing one of my favourite old MCP songs,
Boots N Cats,
which was played to perfection. The band are just so fun and friendly on stage, after each song the crowd was asked whether we liked WiiFit which was met with almost football-like chants of WiiFit! WiiFit! WiiFit! until a copy of WiiFit was thrown to the masses. The people just love WiiFit
what can I say?
Michael Cera Palin!
By song 4,
Laughing Makes It Worse, the crowd was wild, the moshing was legit and I was once again thrown to the bench. Seeing a crowd so happy and crazy really makes a show, no one likes a boring crowd. Unless your at an emo gig in the 90s for which the 'cool' thing to do was cross your arms and
nod to the music. But its not the 90s anymore, and emo kids just wanna get in the mosh pit and do weird kicky stuff with their feet. The band announced that they would be playing some new stuff, much to my relief
as I missed the first show and their new album is amazing. It's nice, with some bands it's obvious that some people just hate their new stuff but not with MCP fans the crowd was as crazy for
Wisteria as they were for anything pre-hiatus. The new album
is perfect for live shows and really shows how much their sound has evolved and matured in 5 years. They also played one of my new favourites
Crypto, which I actually managed to get a little video of. I would of taken more digital camera videos at this show but there was an ominous sign
about no cameras only phones so I only managed to get one at the end sneakily.
Since MCP have (well had) quite a small discog they've always done at least one cover at their gigs and tonight we got an awesome cover of Ceremony's Sick. Idk what its called but the people were doing that thing
where everyone starts running in a circle to this one, needless to say I was not one of them but it looked like a good time. kinda. One of the last, and greatest songs was
If It Makes You Happy, MCP's cover of the Sheryl Crow song, this is their most 'popular'
song so I just knew the crowd was gonna get crazy. I was right, literally everyone was singing and jumping along, it's fair to say that that was a collective transcendant experience for everyone. After performing 14 songs the show was over but the people wanted more. MCP's vocalist and guitarist, Elliot explained that the
venues curfew was up but after an impassioned plea we were allowed
one more song.. yay! The final song was
Despite, off the new record and although the crowd should of been a little tired at this point the kids were, in fact, still screaming.
I then skuttled off back home (on a bus, then a tube, then a taxi because the bus wouldn't show) with my heart pumping with adrenaline and my mind happy that I had finally seen MCP and that they totally surpassed my expectations. This concert is gonna go down in my history as having one of the greatest crowds
ever but I guess thats what happens when you have a band as cool and friendly as MCP, the fans usually follow suit. 10/10 would reccomend.
