Live Review: Our Last Night @ Joiners, Southampton
Joiners was packed full for a sold out show as support group Palisades entered the stage. The American sextet had everything from a drum set to a mixing console at their disposal packed tightly into the small space. Their unique combination of post-hardcore and EDM had the audience off their feet in a fit of strobes and electronic breakdowns. The band’s multiple singers brought a mixture of clean crooning vocals to heated screaming. The crowd was hyped and sweaty when the set finished and Our Last Night made their way onto the stage.
Starting right into ‘Same Old War’, the post-hardcore rockers from New Hampshire were already in high-energy mode from the get-go. Vocalists Matt and Trevor Wentworth commanded the stage, leaning down over the crowd singing back up at them. The brothers may only be in their early 20s, but they’ve been at it since 2004, Trevor only thirteen years old when the band signed to Epitaph Records in 2007.
With the confidence that only comes from experience, the quartet pounded out one song after another with screams and intricate guitar work. ‘Liberate Me’ and ‘Invisible’ made an appearance among the tracks played off the rebellious 2012 LP Age of Ignorance. None of the band’s songs older than Age of Ignorance were played, the tracks instead inclined towards 2014’s Oak Island including the powerful ‘Dark Storms’.
Our Last Night is known for their multiple YouTube covers of popular hits, turning pop tracks into rock songs with heavier breakdowns and unclean vocals. Over the years they’ve covered artists from Taylor Swift to Tove Lo. Their set included two covers, ‘Dark Horse’ by Katy Perry and Adele’s James Bond theme ‘Skyfall’. While ‘Dark Horse’ is one of the band’s most popular tracks, ‘Skyfall’ was Our Last Night’s very first cover that is rarely played at shows. The eerie guitar reverberations mixed with the howled vocals sent the room into shivers, the fullness of the sound echoing around small space.
The band performed a brand new track during the night called ‘Home’ that had only been out for a few days. Though unknown to many of those in the audience, it was easy to get a grasp of the upbeat lyrics. The track was produced, mixed and mastered by Matt and sticking true to the band’s style, it includes drawn out screams and a powerful drumbeat. The emotion comes through loud and clear and a catchy elaborate riff brings the whole track together. It gave the audience a glimpse of their forthcoming album to be released in June during their run on Vans Warped Tour this summer.
The band finished their set with the emotional ‘Sunrise’, the room lit with the glow of lighters and phone screens. While they did head offstage, it was only for the span of a few minutes before the audience was calling for them back. They returned with an encore of ‘I’ve Never Felt This Way’, overwhelming the room in a fit of powerful breakdowns one last time.
