You Me At Six (Middlesbrough Empire 09/10/2011)

Waiting in line with my friend, Caitlin, waiting to go inside to see You Me At Six. I'm not as excited as she is, I've never been a fan of their music but the whispers of excitement from the other fans got me going, I was rather looking forward to it. We were stood beside the tour bus, my heals were killing my feet due to a blister they had placed there so I was sat upon a wall when some roadies came around the corner with tags around their necks and walkie talkies in their hands, with them was a small man who dressed a lot like the other boys in the que. Everyone turned their heads to look at him as he waited till the bus door was unlocked "That's Max" Caitlin says to me, I look at him and he smiles at us all then disappears into the bus "Who?"
"He's the guitarist."

We got inside after a long wait in the que, me and Caitlin both stand on the stairs towards the back with us being quite short and there was no way we were going to survive if we attempted to get to the front. One of the supports acts were on already, Lower Than Atlantis, they had the crowd going which is the most you can ask of a support act. When Deaf Havana arrived on stage there was a huge cheer from the crowd, almost as if they were the main act on. This is the first gig I've been to where people know the songs of the support act, so much so that the lead singer had the confidence to let the crowd sing along, I could hear Caitlin singing behind me and I couldn't help but wish I knew the words when hearing people singing along with joy.

You Me At Six then strutted onto the stage, Josh, Max, Chris, Matt and Dan all behind their instruments though Franceschi only had a microphone to protect him from these mad fans that were probably wanting to rip them all to shreds, obviously in a loving sense. He spoke to us like we were old friends of his, the audience would sometimes speak back to him and I just felt like a guest in their little world, like an outsider,
because in that room I felt a sense of family. I wasn't part of that family.

I only knew one song that night; 'Save it for the bedroom' but even I was singing along and dancing, they sent out this great atmosphere that seemed to say "We're here for one night, so let's make it worth while." I can definitely see why they had sold out, I'm not a fan of their recorded work but live they are a powerful force and it was easy to tell that they wanted to be there, which isn't a feeling you get from many other live musicians. When they performed 'Fireworks' it was very soulful, Franceschi was singing from the heart which is a very hard job to pull off live, it tugged on your heart strings and he had you believe every word he sang.

I honestly must say I had an amazing night, I'm still buzzing from the vibe even the next day. I had to walk back from the venue without my shoes on and I had to limp but if someone gave me the chance to go and see them again I would, I really would.