NECK DEEP, DRAIN, BEARINGS, HIGHER POWER
NEWPORT MUSIC HALL
COLUMBUS, OHIO | FEBRUARY 24, 2024
By Neil Shumate, OOTB Publications
Last night Neck Deep vocalist Ben Barlow reached down from the stage to fist bump and shake hands with a steady flow of incoming crowd surfers, and he often leaned down even farther to lend his mic for surfers to finish the lyrics—a pro way to connect directly with individual fans in a sold-out crowd.
Although the pop-punk genre generally has a fun, humorous appeal (the band even jokes that their sound is “generic”) with an upbeat speedy thrash metal pace, the genre also has a serious edgy side.
Halfway through the set, Barlow told the crowd: “I’m going to get political, because punk music is political! We always support the underdogs and those being oppressed, we’re against the oppressors… and there’s a lot of oppressing going on right now.”
Fans cheered after Barlow's brief political aside that denounced politicians, corporate greed and war, he also encouraged the crowd to do something about it and speak up for what’s right.
Overall, the UK band’s Columbus’ show at Newport Music Hall was a sincere epitome of modern pop-punk with a delivery of nonstop energy as part of a headling jaunt supporting their fifth album, Neck Deep, released last month.
The audience heard about a dozen and a half songs; a fan satisfying mix of both new (“Heartbreak Of The Century,” “Go Outside,” “Take Me With You”) and old (“Loosing Teeth,” “Motion Sickness,” “December”).
Prior to Neck Deep, California’s DRAIN delivered a full-on straight edge, hardcore Madball/Sick Of It All styled crowd engaging performance. Earlier in the evening, Bearings (Canada) satisfied fans with traditional poppy punk and Higher Power (England) unleashed Deftones’-like tunings and aggressive rock-metal-rap vocals.
NECK DEEP (CLICK PHOTOS TO ENLARGE)
DRAIN (CLICK PHOTOS TO ENLARGE)
BEARINGS, HIGHER POWER
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