Every Time I Die’s latest triumphant release, ‘Ex-Lives’, represents the completion of a gradual metamorphosis, where gritty, grueling slabs of imagery and riffery have consumed the lighter, party-core vibes brandished on 2005’s ‘Gutter Phenomenon’. But considering the rather more challenging material displayed on their most recent effort, there was no doubt whatsoever that tonight’s venue of choice, The Haunt, would be teeming with excited youth by the start of the Buffalo-based quintet’s set.
We’ll get straight to the point – these guys put on a show like nothing else, and The Haunt was always going to be the perfect stage for it. Key ingredients that went on to make this show so darn glorious include heavy doses of gleeful stage-diving; one mid-set wedding proposal; one omnipresent crowd-surfing ghost; many crumpled beer cans; one stage-invasion; no encore and an all-pleasing greatest-hits-style set-list which nodded as much to 2003’s fan-favourite ‘Hot Damn!’ as to this year’s material.
Right from the go, inspiringly-hairy and cool-as-pie mic man Keith Buckley has the swaying crowd in the palm of his hand. Hardcore-punk bruiser ‘Kill The Music’ and the rather groovy southern-rock-tinged ‘I Been Gone A Long Time’ open the show, with Keith’s trademark irony-drenched one-liners drawing the feverish Buckley-ites as close to the mic as he allows them, and it’s not long before new songs emerge. The delightfully named ‘Underwater Bimbos From Outer Space’ – which might just be the heaviest song this band have ever written – causes its fair share of chaos, as does fellow ‘Ex-Lives’ tracks ‘Typical Miracle’ and ‘I Suck (Blood)’.
While these are fantastically executed, and received, it’s when the band start digging into more established classics such as ‘No Son of Mine’, ‘Bored Stiff’, and the oh-so-great ‘Wanderlust’ that the show reaches its greatest intensity. In a live setting, the immediacy of the guitar hooks and potency of the vocal lines in these songs just can’t be beaten.
Hands down the most enjoyable gig of the year – an accolade this band won’t be unfamiliar with.
Haunt, Saturday 27th October 2012
Words by Joel Carr
Photos by Dan Griffiths