The Bullet Music Reviews

Live review: Madina Lake - UK

Madina Lake are everyone’s new favourite band; which becomes evident as swarms of adoring fans collect in the newly opened Yeovil Westlands tonight. Madina Lake’s first UK headlining tour has been highly anticipated by the masses; they’re here to demonstrate exactly why they were awarded Best International Newcomer in this years Kerrang! Awards and more importantly to give their fans 'the best night of your (their) lives'. Of course, this isn’t an arrogant remark made by one of those replicated bands that seem to be floating around the music scene aimlessly at the moment - Madina Lake are a million miles from them.

The minute support band Halifax hit the stage the crowd appeared to have been injected with noxious amounts of adrenaline - where this band may not have the most unique set of songs – the Thousand Oaks, California-reared quintet’s music translates onstage into happy-go-lucky, lively entertainment. In contrast, Envy on the Coast bored the crowd with their tedious impersonation of Pop-Rock. Between the five of them they create enough excitement to send an insomniac to sleep! Opening with the dawdling Sugar Skulls, the room promptly empties leaving only the people desperate to protect their place at the front for the headliners; but to be fair, playing in-between Halifax and Madina Lake is going to be no mean feat.

Madina Lake’s arrival with The Auspice causes absolute chaos. Frontman Nathan Leone dramatically somersaulted off a speaker and was undressed by the crowd; the room crammed with diving and tumbling crowd surfers eager to make their way to the stage. The remaining band members left playing their instruments, seemingly unaffected by the commotion happening in front of their eyes.

Auspice Balloons and confetti guns were released into a sea of energized individuals as the band burst into biggest hit House of Cards. Musically, Madina Lake hold punchy guitar work, offset by an obvious mix of both singing and screamo vocals with a clean electronica edge – producing a delicate mix of melody and aggression with unlimited prospective. It’s this creativity that sets the Chicago lads apart from their competitors. Twins Nathan and Matthew Leone’s level of contact with the audience adds to the intimacy of this gig; they’re physically attached to the front of the crowd, holding hands and giving out high-fives to each and every person. Nathan’s many speeches maybe the usual band-to-fan chitchat, but they spoke a lot of certainty, for example, 'fuck yesterday, fuck tomorrow, put all your effort into tonight and having the best time of your fucking life!'. Stand-out part of the night was a darker River People, with each member sporting mythical masks, which ties into the concept intertwined into their lyrics and art-work; this song highlights the power inside Nathan Leone’s voice and this band’s ability to mix electronica with pop-punk in a live show – something the majority are not brave enough to even attempt.

It’s the finale of the gig that will have been cemented into the memory of every single person that attended tonight. Nathan disappeared and brought back onstage the crowd-surfers that got thrown outside during the gig. As they danced along to “True Love”, Nathan encouraged the crowd to climb onstage with them; fans were climbing over security guards heads and kicking them in the face eager to join the group onstage.

Verdict: It’s this kind of anarchy that sets Madina Lake shows apart from the rest, this band have so much admiration and respect for their fans and this comes through in the atmosphere tonight. If I rated this gig 4 stars or below, I’d be telling the biggest lie of my life. Long live Madina Lake!

Beth Hoadley - guest reviewer