All Time Low don’t disappoint in Belfast

Returning for a second time to Belfast, tickets sold out and guest act ‘Only Rivals’ from Dublin were warming up the crowd.

Baltimore’s ‘All Time Low’ started almost on the dot, beginning the show with ‘Do you want me? (Dead or Alive)’ creating an ecstatic blast of energy from the crowd.

What the lead singer, Alex Gaskarth, referred to as a “technical difficulty/poster malfunction,” meant that the surprise encore was revealed early. One of the animated posters of the band members hanging from the roof, fell down revealing the word ‘love’. Fans almost immediately recognised the poster and the planned surprise. ‘A Love Like War’ is All Time Low’s very successful latest single. The band planned to trick the crowd into thinking the concert was over and that they were not going to hear the latest song. Gaskarth, frustrated that the crowd weren’t going to have the same surprise as other venues, openly pointed out the error and then gracefully joked with the audience claiming they were going to skip a whole set of songs to move onto the finale.

Despite being slightly hung-over from the St Patrick’s Day celebrations and with the minor poster setback, All Time Low didn’t fail to give a thrilling and emotional performance.

Alex Gaskarth switched to an acoustic guitar and played ‘Remembering Sunday’ and ‘Therapy’, two songs which struck heavy emotion into a lot of their fans.

Everyone in the venue was singing along in harmony, as if we had rehearsed together to show the band what their music had achieved. They were taken aback by the oneness of the audience. He told us that he had been informed that Belfast were “the best singers”, we lived up to that.

Then a change in the mood, they upped the tempo by playing ‘Time Bomb’ and four lucky people were chosen to get up and sing. They were referred to as the ‘new lead singers’.

Getting up close and personal, one young lad called Conor got the best role as the lead singer, he seized his opportunity and began singing, dancing and jumping in sync with the band. He merged so naturally that when the song ended and the “new lead singers” had left the stage, he got serenaded from Alex and Jack Barakat (lead guitarist and backing vocalist). They proclaimed that they would miss him and for the fans to keep an eye out for a new song about him. The moment of a lifetime and the highlight of the night for a young local teenager who left everyone jumping for more.