My Awesome Compilation

by Emma

My Awesome Compilation – Leeds Joseph’s Well – 28 July 2005

What a night! I had wanted to catch a My Awesome Compilation gig for ages and so when I heard they were playing Leeds we were there with bells on.

We listened to the most strange and amusing sound check, replaced our evening meal with wine and were shortly after accosted by what must be one the friendliest and most genuine blokes ever – My Awesome Compilation’s own master of the skins Andy Driver. I say accosted…it may have been more the other way around as Andy started to set up the merch stand on our table and we fell deeper under the influence! We had a good chat about the band and their plans (MAC are about to embark upon a tour of Japan) and got talking to support act Fast Lane’s vocalist about gigging. I must confess my memory is sketchy on a lot of the conversation although we were there for a good few hours as band members flitted back and forth from the table. We were appointed responsibility for the merch stand for a while as Andy went off to have some food and we sat talking music and tattoos with Fast Lane’s gorgeous Adam Biffen. Adam talked about their spot at this year’s Download festival and showed his full support of the Kerrang/Samaritans Rock For Life campaign by accepting and proudly sporting a RFL wristband. Fast Lane were due on stage and so Adam went off to get ready and I caught up with MAC’s Woody Cobb for a bit before heading off to catch Fast Lane.

Fast Lane proved to be excellent – their set was good-humoured light-hearted and lots of fun. I will be checking out Fast Lane at the next possible opportunity as I thoroughly enjoyed their set. This London based band is not particularly heavy but the music is excellent and they definitely deserved to play Download. More to come on Fast Lane in next month’s issue.

My Awesome Compilation took to the stage next and clearly enjoyed every second of it! Andy wore a huge cheeky grin all of the way through the gig and brother Chris delivered flawless vocals and guitar as Woody literally pounded the keyboard and his brother Darius backed up with cool vocals and a good solid bass. My Awesome Compilation delivered a mellow and happy post-hardcore performance and they lived up to every hope I had of them being as great live as their EP The View Is Amazing would suggest. MAC played a number of new tracks from the then forthcoming album Actions and delighted the audience with terrific renditions of As Always, Our Lives: The Sequel and Wish You Well. Their effortless style never fails to make me smile and their music is refreshingly upbeat and cheery for their genre.

An excellent night, money very well spent and I can’t wait for the next time around. I hope these guys get the recognition they deserve because they are just awesome.

Emma

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