A farewell : We Are The Ocean
07:57
On the sixteenth of January, 2017, We Are The Ocean announced what seemed inevitable : they were calling it a day. They did a small three show run, last week, and I went and attended it all, because it was the least I could do to say goodbye to one of the most important bands of my adult years.
I hate goodbyes.
Farewell tours aren’t meant to get you to discover new bands ; they’re here to celebrate the career of the band you love so dearly. We Are The Ocean’s farewell tour did that, but also managed to throw a new band my way. This band is called Holding Absence and is from Cardiff, Wales. Their sound is heavier than what you’d expect from a band supporting We Are The Ocean but more importantly, their sound has the freshness of a band who is just getting started perfectly balanced with the excellence of a band with a ten year career behind their wheel. It’s hard to believe this lot is just arriving on the touring scene (it was the first time they played Glasgow or Manchester) because they sound professional and neat the whole time. In three shows, thanks to their clever sound, some sort of crossover between Crooks and Architects, and thanks to their enthusiasm, they have won me over. They’re at Download in June, and not missing out on this sounds like a great idea.
I really, really, really don’t like goodbyes, and even though it’s almost a week since Glasgow, it’s safe to say I’m still in complete denial. (The fact that We Are The Ocean are due to play Slam Dunk Festival in May doesn’t really help the feeling and I have repeatedly asked anyone who's going to be there to provide me with alcohol at all times to numb the pain, à la Lily Aldrin in the last season of How I Met Your Mother).
The most painful part of this farewell tour is not just knowing that come the end of May, I’ll never see We Are The Ocean live ever again.
The most painful part of this farewell tour is watching them call it a day, play one last time, and seeing them enjoying themselves. It’s knowing they don’t want this to end either.
A lot of old songs are getting played, across this three date run. The setlist is extensive, twenty-two songs and a lot of deep cuts. Ready for the Fall and (I’ve Never Felt This) God Damn Good are brought back from 2008’s self titled EP. I get to hear Lucky Ones live, for the first and last time. A lot of songs are extracted from my favourite album, Go Now and Live. As frontman Liam Cromby says in Glasgow, they’re playing old songs and new ones, “covering all the basics”. These three shows, they’re excellent, of course they are. We Are The Ocean have never played a bad show and they have always given a hundred percent of themselves on stage. The things I love most about their live performances are there - Liam Cromby’s absolutely stunning voice, Tom Whittaker’s strong, brilliant, unforgettable drumming (he will be dubbed “the heartbeat of the band” in both Manchester and London), the band’s ability to reinvent their sound every time, to give every song a twist.
The London headliner was the most painful of all, and not because it was the last one - well, not only. During penultimate track The Waiting Room, a member of the audience injured themselves and the band decided to cancel the rest of the show so the woman could get medical assistance. While I fully appreciate that they took the best decision at the time, I couldn’t help being upset as they never got the closure they deserved. A band as talented and loved as We Are The Ocean deserved to finish on the high of hearing several hundred people singing their breakthrough song Nothing Good Has Happened Yet back at them. They deserved miles better than having to interrupt the show because of an injury.
I couldn’t help being upset and bitter, because it felt like, for the past five years, We Are The Ocean simply never got what they deserved. When former vocalist Dan Brown left the band, the rest of the members were constantly questioned about it. Whatever they did was welcome with an angry “Bring back Dan!”. I can think of bands who have changed vocalists and sound during their career and yet, I can’t think of another band who has had to endure criticism for those decisions for half a decade. We Are The Ocean never got the support they deserved from the music press, they got tossed at the back with the washed up scene bands and forgotten about. They never got the promotion they deserved. They never got the fame they deserved. They never got the popularity they deserved.
And they didn’t even get the ending they deserved.
Those three shows, though painful, were a beautiful reminder of why I love We Are The Ocean as much as I do. They’re a band that made sure I grew up okay. Their music got me through some awful moments, through depression and missing people more than the world, through family issues and dealing with my mental health, through recovery and doubt. I don’t know where I would be if I hadn’t had Go Now and Live to show me I wasn’t alone with my feelings, or if I hadn’t had Maybe Today, Maybe Tomorrow to accompany me through the long, tough process of getting better. The best part of my twenties has been plagued by all those problems, and all that pain, and all this loss, and all those fights to get better and get to the other side just fine, and the outcome wouldn't have been the same without these five and their music.
We Are The Ocean breaking up feels like a close, important friend moving to the other side of the world. The memories are here forever, for me to cherish, but who's going to be there to hold my hand.
I want to believe it's a sign my hand doesn't need holding anymore, but I'm not so sure.
0 comments