3rd June confirmed the date for the long awaited return of Plymouth band Seize The Day at White Rabbit, after 8 months of being unable to perform due to the unfortunate circumstances concerning the drummer’s health.
Seize The Day are made up of 4 Plymouthian guys who have been friends for a lot of years; Mike Norton-guitar and lead vocals, Chris Booth-bass and vocals, Liam ‘Wood’ West-guitar and vocals and Chris Cribbett-drums. A few years back, a band named Towards Reason was formed, which consisted of ¾ of the current members of Seize The Day; Cribbett, Mike and Booth and a friend of theirs; Brab who played guitar, however this band later fizzled out due to personal reasons. Fortunatly, the end of Towards Reason resulted into Seize The Day who share similar styles of music to those bands that have influenced them throughout the years such as Blink 182 and A Day To Remember with their pop punk approach to music with a hint of screamo. On 30th September 2010, White Rabbit hosted their very own ‘Stars In Their Eyes’ event where Seize The Day covered ADTR but due to the drummer being hospitalised a couple of days prior to the gig, the band still played that night but in an acoustic only set where they realised that covering ADTR like this wasn’t going so well so they decided to play some of their own songs e.g. ‘When The Lights Go Down’. Also the 3 remaining members practised the last minute change the night before the event so were under a lot of pressure to do well for themselves and to provide a good night for their fans.A week before the gig a friend of mine; Nat, said she wanted to go and because it was her first experience at White Rabbit she was really excited but nervous at the same time. Due to this, she begun to ask questions like what type of music is played there. This was difficult to answer because the Plymouth venue holds a varied sound music from heavy metal to dubstep so from 1 end of the music spectrum all the way to the other. Another question she asked that literally made me LOL was ‘Is there a dress code?’ course not you just turn up in what you want, the doormen aren’t going to turn you away for what you look like, I mean you may get funny looks from people if you decided to wear your pyjamas for instance but no one will judge you because everyone who goes enjoys the atmosphere and music produced by bands today and not chart hits.
The doors were meant to open at 7pm but due technical reasons no one entered until 7:45pm, which you would think annoyed people who were waiting outside for up to 1 hour but it didn't it just hyped them up more because they wanted to witness the return of the almighty Seize The Day. When I was in the venue I walked directly to the STD merch table, bought a new purple wristband, and then met up with my sister who was already inside; the perks of being in a relationship with the drummer I suppose. Nat was in a bit a daze and didn't know what was going on but I assured her that she would have a good time. Everyone was stood by the stage waiting for Statues to start the night off.
I've heard of Statues before but never have I seen them play so this was a first for me. They are a good band in their own right but I wasn't really feeling it neither was I connected with them like I am with other bands’ music. Statues are a bunch of mental lads because everytime I looked at the stage the lead vocalist; Tom Bromley, was jumping around and I thought he was going to fall off at some stages of their set to be honest. I can quite honestly say that I wouldn’t be fussed watching them live again even though they are a good band, however, Nat didn't have to say anything to me because you just had to see the look on her face to know she wouldn't listen to them ever again on her own accordance.
Elithia were next on stage after Statues. Even though I'm friends with Alex May (guitar) and Tom Jackson (bass) I've never ever seen their band perform even though I have meant to several times before. Tyler Page (vocals) is a great screamer and the rest of the band as a whole are fantastic and that night proved to be great for them because even though I'm not entirely into pure screamo, Elithia were amazing and changed my mind about this particular type of music. Also, I knew for a fact that I would be seeing them again at various venues in the southwest of England and I hope all the best for Elithia in the coming years; I want to be seeing them perform at Sonisphere on the Red Bull Bedroom Jam stage in a couple of years time. The final support act of the night was The Blowouts who quite honestly blew out the crowd (apologies for that pathetically non-funnyjoke). Like every support act playing tonight I've never seen them before but this was different because I've never even heard of The Blowouts either. Jim (Lead vocals and guitar) and Brad (bass and vocals) had a bit of banter in between songs which was entertaining but a little tedius after a while because they did it too much and too often. The really funny part was when they started playing completely different songs to eachother by mistake, which made them stop and have a small but meaningless arguement on stage. If I got the chance I would see The Blowouts again because they are a great band that laughs off any mistakes that have been made and produce good music.
10pm was the time everyone in the venue was waiting for. Fans of STD filed to the front of the stage to await the official return of a band that some may worship; not naming names-Greggy Pain. The lights dimmed and the long anticipated reverb of the Pokemon theme tune abrupted from the sound system of White Rabbit. Seize The Day had finally entered the building!
The setlist for Seize The Day's comeback gig after 8 months away from the stage and fans was:
1) And Press Crouch Repeatedly
2) From The Hands Of Fate
3) This Ain't Jeremy Kyle, Leave Your Problems At Home
4) Save It For Your Facebook Status
5) I Thought You Were Buying Me Something Nice (new song alert)
6) When The Lights Go Down
7) Why Does Plan B Have To Come Second
8) So Much For The Weather
Seize The Day exploded onto the stage with their first song of the night; 'And Press Crouch Repeatedly', which got the ever so excited crowd jizzing in their pants. Seize The Day performed their brand song 'I Thought You Were Buying Me Something Nice', which went down incredibly well with each and every person inside White Rabbit even though no one knew the lyrics. However, I hazard a guess that this song will soon be a fan favourite along with 'When The Lights Go Down' and 'This Ain't Jeremy Kyle, Leave Your Problems At Home' because Mike Norton is an amazing songwriter and singer who performs with everything he's got. The final song of the night was 'So Much For The Weather', which got the audience flinging about like nut cases to the pretty awesome beats composed by Chris Cribbett. During the song, Seize The Day released several red and white beach balls into the crowd, which made everyone join in the fun and have a laugh. Some crowd members struck them back toward the band to involve the guys too. The funniest part watching this song live tonight was when Chris Booth was getting ready to do his thing when out of nowhere a beach ball came flying out from the sea of STD fans and rebounded off his microphone causaing it to spin 90 degrees. Booth laughed it off, sorted out the mic then got back to playing bass-how professional.
The last strings were plucked, the bass drum had its ultimate kick and the final lyric was sung-all this lead to the end of Seize The Day's comeback gig at White Rabbit, which left the room full of fans chanting "Seize The Day" repeatedly at the top of their lungs to show their appreciation for a great local band. The 4 lads walked off stage energised and very pleased with finally being back doing what they love to do as the closest mates they are. If anyone is going to a future show of theirs, pick up the bands’ new 4 track CD for only £2. All the best to Seize the Day :D
