We Are The Ocean, Lonely The Brave, Go Primitive, and Drop Down Smiling @ The Vault, Rugby – 3/08/2013

The Vault is a splendid little venue in the medium-sized town in the midlands called Rugby. It is anything but mediocre. It always has a pleasant atmosphere, a great sound team, and friendly staff (drawing cocks on a van notwithstanding). The Vault is one hell of a local venue that keeps pulling bigger and better bands every year. And this gig was no exception.

8/10

Drop Down Smiling

One of the main problems with the music scene these days is that many people come for the headline band, but don’t even bother to come early and support the supports! This is a crying shame as Drop Down Smiling are a loud and fun band, with a refreshing sound, and good crowd interaction. Although they initially started out a bit stiff, they got more into it as the set went on. They were great openers that deserve a bigger crowd.

7/10

Go Primitive

Local band Go Primitive are a force to be reckoned with, they are a band that know how to treat a crowd. Every song full of passion and energy, with hooks and lines catchy enough to sing along to, yet never feel repetitive, Go Primitive are fresh and strong and are likely to impress anyone who goes to see them. They’re also some of the nicest guys I know.

7/10

Lonely the Brave

Despite being the only band of the night with a singer who isn’t also playing an instrument, Lonely The Brave was the stiffest band of the night. With little to no crowd interaction and very little stage presence, they could stand to have moved a bit more and get lost in their music.

Sonically, their songs were well-crafted and sounded very polished, with a lot of depth and variety.

However after the passion-filled foreplay of the previous two bands, they felt kind of disappointing. Their strong sound does make up for their lack of movement, but it isn’t quite enough.

5/10

We Are The Ocean

We Are The Ocean is the band people came here to see, and they were not a disappointment. The entire band just looked happy to be there, despite clearly being used to much larger crowds at bigger venues. Their set was full of life, with lots of movement around the stage and towards the crowd. Each song was well-polished and catchy, while still sounding raw and emotional; they knew how to work a crowd even as small as this one. The oldest song they played was "The Waiting Room," which leaves some people, such as myself, disappointed. Some of the crowd were left chanting: “Nothing Good! Nothing Good! Nothing Good!”

Apart from that, We Are The Ocean is a great live band which has more than earned its popularity.

8/10