We were invited to the party held by Youth Killed It with Omega Bad and Atlas&I at The Waterfront, and boy, it did not disappoint. I was especially excited for the return of Atlas&I after 14/15 years of being gone.
Omega Bad were the first band, they describe themselves as an energetic alt-rock act and started with their single ‘Feeling Alone’. They came with so much energy and were immediately trying to get the crowd involved, to which many obliged. During their 2nd song ‘Vertigo’, lead vocalist David Betts was bouncing around, enjoying himself and styled out a small little trip or as he described it, “eating shit on the waterfront stage”. Midway through their set, they played a couple of covers. One being ‘Break Stuff’ by Limp Bizkit and ‘Omen’ by The Prodigy both got a very good reception. They got everyone down to the floor twice during their set and had the crowd bouncing by the end of it. All in all, I really enjoyed them. They have a fun vibe and brought great crowd interaction.
Next up were Atlas & I, and I was super excited for these boys. It was their first show back for 15 years after the last time they played upstairs at The Waterfront Studio. They are an Alternative rock band based in Norwich, and they kicked off their set with ‘A Long Night’, a single from their most recent album ‘Between Collapse & The Quiet Beyond’. They came out ready to go and were as strong-sounding as ever. First pit of the night opened up during ‘The Great Divide’ a song from their 2011 album ‘In Desolate Times’. They were as good as I remember them being, and Matt’s vocals have always stood out to me every time I hear them. They closed their set with another song from the 2011 album ‘We’ll Never See Alaska’, and there was a pit open throughout the entirety of the song. It really took me back to my youth, and I had to be a part of it. Matt jumped into the crowd and joined us too. It was a great end to a fantastic set, and I’m looking forward to seeing more of them again soon.
The crowd were fully warmed up and excited for the headliners, Youth Killed It. They walked out to ‘Freed from desire’, and immediately it felt like a party, everyone enjoying themselves, jumping and ready for the good time ahead. Of course, with the band being from Norwich, they had to play Delia Smith saying “let’s be having you” over the Champions League music as well, which got a great reception.
They started their set with ‘NPC’, and everyone was singing along and having the best time. Frontman, Jack Murphy brought the energy as he always does, and the band just sounded really good in general. It was great to see them up there just enjoying themselves at their biggest hometown headline show to date. Jack asked everyone to raise a drink for the next song, ‘Shandy Murray’, which definitely has nothing to do with Andy Murray but was another fun, high-energy song.
The absolute legend Pierre joined the band on stage with his saxophone, playing the super sexy, ‘Careless Whisper’. The crowd had been super lovely throughout their set, but especially so during ‘Molly’, getting super pushy and energetic, before everyone raised their flashlights in the air, lighting up the whole room. They finished off the night by inviting David Betts from Omega Bad and Matt Snelling from Atlas&I back to the stage to help sing ‘Popstar’, a fantastic end to a brilliant night, and they even managed to get a nice little conga line going through the crowd. So much fun all round and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Super excited to see what each band does going forward, and would highly recommend seeing all bands here tonight. A very very enjoyable night
Words – Rob Warren
Photos – Kayleigh Warren
