Right I wrote this last night but it didnt post so it still counts as Hayin’s Late Night Gig Review.

Slam Dunk South 2010 was abysmally organised and I missed out on like two big bands I wanted to see. SDS 2012 was better. When I got there, I saw Alex and…Leah(?) in the queue, joined them for twenty minutes. Realised they already had a wristband and had to go to the back of the line where I was promptly joined by Joel. Queued for an hour, got a TSSF shirt.

Then I went to the HxG stage, where Upon A Burning Body were playing. Breakdowns pretty good, if not slightly unorthodox in the last song, but pretty good anyway. Not a massive fan but I wouldnt mind watching them if they were supporting someone I liked. Next was I See Stars which was disastrous at first. Their singer (Devin?) had his mic really quiet for the first two songs. Also, his voice was a tad strained with the high notes. Should have had a mic check before. Screamer was good, but he acted REALLY gay with his head bops and crotch thrusts. They were alright though, a bit too fangirly though. The End Of The World Party was cool. Next was… For The Fallen Dreams? These two older dudes turned around to ask me to make sure it was For The Fallen Dreams playing because loads of the fangirls stayed. But yeah, I’ve listened to them a bit, liked what I heard and today I liked what I saw. Awkward meeting again with Cleo though. I blame her boyfriend. He has good music taste. Got a bit into it when they played Brothers In Arms and December Everyday. Pretty good band although I question the use of a Fender Custom Telecaster for metal. Next was The Word Alive. Great band, great performance. Telle was spot on with his vocals. Glad they played Epiphany even if it sounded odd, but a tad disappointed with the lack of Battle Royale which got me into them. But yeah, I lost Joel in the wall of death, but I found Issy behind me which was cool. Next was Of Mice & Men. Saw them before, pretty good live. Before they played there was a … larger than life character shall we say. She took up several spaces, not because she was large, but she stood with her legs as far apart as she could and held onto the railings with her arms stretched out. Ended up behind her and her much smaller friend when they played, and the friend kept grinding her arse against me even if I wasnt pushing. This is why I hate fan girls. But yeah, bit surprised they finished with OG Loko instead of Second & Sebring, but good performance like before.

After that I left everyone and went outside to see Motion City Soundtrack to cool off. Also bought some extortionate chips for three quid and a coke for two quid. Way too expensive. MCS weren’t fantastic live, good though, and Justin’s stage presence was pretty well appreciated. Loved Worker Bee; they sung the main riff. Always thought it was a guitar riff. Also the Moog synthist was pretty crazy like he should have been in a metal band. I caught like ten minutes of Funeral For A Friend after I bumped into Alex and found Issy again. I’ve never listened to them before so I don’t know what to say. Next was Transit, and it was very good. Probably one of the better bands of the night. I didn’t know their old stuff as much, but I appreciated all of the Listen and Forgive songs. A bit more distorted live than in the studio, a bit harsh guitar tone really but oh well. Very nice. The Story So Far was crazy. Instantly goes into my top ten live bands. Parker’s towel swagger was entertaining, but so were the masses of crowd surfers. Mt Diablo and High Regard were just about the best live songs ever. Lost my glasses halfway through, but I found them almost straight away. There was some massive beef between the security guards and this group of dudes, and a barmaid got involved too. They were almost fighting. Issy found me again during this, and then we went outside with…Charlotte(sorry if I got that wrong, my hearing was terribly impeded) aka. Anotherdoseofcaffeine for Taking Back Sunday. Saw them before last year, and again they weren’t amazing. They played loads of good stuff though, mostly Louder Now songs, but I appreciated Your Last Summer and There’s No I In Team. Great studio band, but its a shame theyre not as good live. Austin Carlile was around at this point, and he remembered me from the Kingston show. Also, I did a very nice deed and put Abbi on the phone to him. Afterwards, Joel and I walked to the station instead of getting the bus, which resulted in getting the 00:08 train. Got picked up, and got home at 1.50AM. Had a foods, now I’m writing this and it is two in the morning so goodnight.