Just before they start their biggest headline tour to date, British rockers Lower Than Atlantis treat themselves (and us!) to a short set of shows in the mainland.



They have brought fellow British rockers Young Guns in tow. They are in a weird position as we speak, Young Guns. Back in 2012, they were at the top of the pile when it came to British rock music. Everyone and their goldfish was convinced in their heart of hearts that they would make it big, big for real, and save the dreary state of rock music.
And then, they went traipsing around America for three years, lost their drummer along the way and, five years after the hopes and dreams, they're back at square one.

For us French fans, it isn't even a surprise seeing them at le Badaboum. Formerly called la Scène Bastille, it hosted many a Young Guns gig in a short amount of time back in the day, and these shows are the sole reason any of us set foot there. Tonight, Young Guns' set and the oldies they brought back (Stitches, You Are Not or Weight of the World), could easily be a nostalgic nod to olden times if the band didn't have so many pieces to pick up. And they try, real hard. Newer material, extracted from 2015's Ones and Zeros (I Want Out, Daylight) or 2016's Echoes (Mad World) genuinely sounds good and when they went away, they didn't lose their talent along the way, nor did frontman Gustav Wood lose his incredible charisma.
I think they just lost momentum.

Their set was wholeheartedly, genuinely, objectively solid. I can't fault them or their performance in any way. They're still the talented bunch I fell in love with seven years ago, and the blandness of their Slam Dunk sets is forgiven and forgotten.
It's just... I have a bad feeling about this. The truth is, I don't know what the future holds for Young Guns, and with the rose tinted glasses of 2012 off, it doesn't look shiny or promising.
And it breaks my heart, because as I found myself in tears during You Are Not and Stitches, I realised that despite the highs and lows, the moments of enless joy and those of heartbreak, I'll probably love Young Guns forever.




On the other hand, the future looks brighter than ever for Londoners Lower Than Atlantis. Their most recent album, Safe in Sound, got to number 8 in the UK charts, has been critically acclaimed and they're only two days away from the start of their biggest headline tour.
They're not exactly on 5000 capacity rooms level on the mainland, but thanks to an ever growing reputation on the other side of the Channel and last years' successful tour alongside You Me At Six, they clearly are on the way up - and tonight's turn out and atmosphere show it. The crowd seems a bit shy at first, as is often the case in cold-hearted, nope we don't do feelings Paris, but it quickly picks up and dancing could be witnessed (I myself had my dancing shoes on from start to finish) and the singalongs during Work for It or Another Sad Song were a sight to see.

This tour is the very first the band does to promote Safe in Sound, only released last month. Only five songs are being played at le Badaboum : singles Had Enough and Dumb, the absolute classic I hope Boomerang will become, the aforementioned Work for It and the incredibly positive Could Be Worse, which is slowly but surely finding its place among my favourite Lower Than Atlantis songs - no pun intended, but your girl needs PMA more often than not. The best part of the setlist is dedicated to 2014's self titled album, and, unbeknownst to me, songs like Emily, English Kids in America and Words Don't Come So Easily have found a solid place in the minds and hearts of the French.

The thing is, I don't know if it's Lower Than Atlantis' turn to have momentum and the responsibility to do something with it, I don't know if they really are at the cusp of something gigantic. I don't want my rose tinted glasses back and I don't want another band to have to carry the weight of being rock music's designated saviours, for fear they might break. I just know that, as of the 7th of March 2017, I have seen Lower Than Atlantis a grand total of eighteen times over the past six years or so. I have seen them in five different countries, in big rooms and sweaty clubs, as festivals and at headline shows, and what I do believe, for real, is

a) they are one of the best sounding and most consistently solid live bands I have ever seen. I don't have the memory of seeing them play a bad show, ever, and
b) they are a breath of fresh air. On stage, they are honest and they bare themselves, they are pleasant and sometimes not (I could have done without the story of guitarist Ben Samson's inability to pee at the right times), they are class and yet so unclassy at times and in the end, because you know it's not fake, you find yourself rooting for these four, because they might just be the only ones who dare showing their flaws and shortcomings as well as their strengths.

During closer Here We Go, a portion of the audience invades the English's stage and is met by bright smiles all round. Frontman Mike Duce immediately jumps off the stage and ends up crowdsurfing. It feels like a suspended moment in time, something special. If you had told me, six years ago, that one day, I would watch Lower Than Atlantis killing it in my hometown ten days before they headlined Brixton all by themselves, I'm not sure I would have believed it, and here we are.



I don't want Lower Than Atlantis to save anything for anyone. I just hope that they will carry on being that breath of fresh air, sincere and unapologetic. I hope they'll carry on bringing people together like they've done for me, Carley, Alice or Emily. I hope they'll put smiles on thousands of faces like they do to me and to so many people I know. I don't care, ultimately, if they become the biggest band ever or not, though it'd be great and fully deserved if they did.
I just hope they never, ever lose their fire.