This week FLY53 went to The Fleece in Bristol to check out Of Mice & Men on their headline UK tour, and they almost melted our faces! Southampton’s own Bury Tomorrow got the party started for them, playing a solid half hour set list comprised of 3 old songs, and 3 new songs off their upcoming second album ‘The Union of Crowns’. From the moment they blasted into their opener ‘Lionheart’ it was clear that they meant business. They also played their newest single ‘An Honourable Reign’ which had premiered the night before on Radio 1’s rock show. By the time they left the stage, they had shown Bristol what they were all about, and more than likely won over some new fans.
Bury Tomorrow – Photo by Zain Zia
Then it was time for the main event. A couple of months ago Of Mice & Men parted ways with their bassist, who also provided the clean vocals for the band. But this clearly hasn’t slowed them down one bit as was evidenced by their fantastic performance. Vocalist Austin Carlile is now handling all vocal duties, and did a great job too. If you had never seen the band before you could be forgiven for thinking that he had always been their only vocalist.
Their set was a mixture of songs from both their albums. But the highlights must be live favourites ‘Those In Glass Houses’ and ‘OG Loko’. They returned to the stage for an encore with a rousing performance of ‘Second And Sebring’, arguably their most popular song, with a deafening sing-a-long. Special mention must be given to the over active security guard who was on stage duty. There was a never ending stream of fans climbing on stage just to throw themselves back into the crowd, and he was there to make sure they were sent straight back to where they came from. He spent almost as much time on stage as the band themselves. All in all another fantastic live gig.
Austin Carlile – Of Mice & Men
