LIVE BLOG

All Time Low

Posted:
6:31 PM

For many, All Time Low are a band synonymous with the ever-present feature of alternative TV music channels in their teenage years, and as such, their songs from the latter part of the last decade remain their most beloved – a fact they cheekily acknowledged by teasing the opening of their smash-hit ‘Dear Maria, Count Me In’ mere seconds after appearing onstage!

However, as they gamely instructed the crowd, “You’ll have to wait, because we play that one last!”. So instead, the expectant audience clustered around  the Main Stage West were treated to a sampling of an All Time Low that have grown from a scrappy pop punk quartet into bona-fide pop rock kings. From the pounding radio-ready single ‘Sleeping In’ to the smooth, sultry ‘Monsters’ (in which vocalist Alex Gaskarth pulled off the rap in the bridge, reserved on record for blackbear., with impressive ease), while the sometimes-crude onstage banter from guitarist Jack Barakat was still present-and-correct, musically, the band feel as though they have matured and fully grown into their new sound.

Not that all the classics were absent, of course! Opener ‘Lost in Stereo’ immediately won over the slight hesitation in some of the crowd, and the boyish charm of ‘Damned If I Do Ya, Damned If I Don’t’ was as liberating and endearing as ever. And, of course, the full version of ‘Dear Maria…’ came thundering down at the close, accompanied by a shower of rainbow confetti. So, whether you like your pop punk classic or reimagined, an All Time Low show undoubtedly still has plenty of both – and it is all very, very fun indeed.