We headed down to Camden’s KOKO to see La Dispute and Fucked Up absolutely smash their joint co-headline tour a few weeks ago, we also took a few pictures for you to check out!
DOOMSQUAD, who are a moody American three piece unlike both La Dispute and Fucked Up in terms of heaviness and genre specifically, still manage to perform a great supporting act and hype the eagerly waiting crowd. The crowd seems almost baffled by the intro of their first song, but once the song progresses the crowd begins to enjoy their music in an almost amazed awe.
Next up are one half of this joint co-headline tour, Fucked Up. Opening up with heavy hitter Year Of The Rat, the crowd automatically knew they were in for one hell of ride. With music that feels almost tangible and a lead singer that is actually tangible, Fucked Up are a brilliant and well executed mixture of a musical group and spectacle. With a lead singer as fearless as Fucked Up’s Damian Abraham, touching your idols isn’t a dream so much anymore, more a reality. It especially was for the lucky audience who happened to be in the front row and were well within grabbing reach of Damien who gleefully grabbed back and gave half as good as he got!
As a fan of intimate but crazy and chaotic gigs, I loved Fucked Up’s set crazy set with its brilliant instrumentals, harsh vocals from Damian Abraham and his tendency to spend more time interacting with the crowd than on stage, at least for the first few songs. Also, I’ve got to say thanks to Damien for the sweaty hug that we gave myself and a fellow photographer in the photo pit, you have to love artists who acknowledge both their fans and the photographers in attendance.
Before La Dispute take to the stage, members of security are seen taping signs to the speakers on stage asking for the audience to respect the other people in the audience and not take pictures. As a photographer and lover of music myself, I wholeheartedly agree with this notion, although unfortunately for myself and the other photographers, the bands lighting was dim and made shooting very hard. Nonetheless the stage setup was very pretty and a perfect setting for the band, irritatingly impossible to be captured adequately in photographs.
With a crowd that couldn’t be more fired up or raring to go, La Dispute finally begin their first song King Park. Throughout both La Dispute and Fucked Up’s set, there was a constant stream of flailing crowd surfers who would inch towards the stage in an attempt to grasp lead singer Jordan Dreyer. You could feel the tension and anticipation in the air, you could see that the band was reacting back to an audience that was rapturously engaged and enjoying their music. This gig felt like a stepping stone for the band and I can almost guarantee from their performance and the crowd’s reaction, that there certainly won’t be a shortage of fans ready and willing to purchase tickets again in the future.
