You know how, about You Me At Six, I said that France had proved that you didn't need to be a lot to make yourself heard?
We had another one of those.

It's a bright, sunny Tuesday and during the evening, Illinois sad boys Real Friends are gracing the Backstage by the Mill with their presence, bringing fellow Americans Microwave in tow.



I had heard and talked about Microwave but didn't really know what to expect of them. For starters, a group of people chanting "Micro-ondes" before the band came on coupled with our sheer inability to call them anything other than the French translation of their name might just be the most French thing this scene has ever done, maybe even more than the times when it was fashionable to bring baguettes to bands.
Second, if we concentrate on the music, well... They kinda blew me away first song on, and I suppose that's what you want from a support band, isn't it? You want them to catch your attention just enough for you to have a good time during that fateful half hour. Well... They did, yeah. They grabbed my attention from the first minute onwards and never let it go for the following... what? Forty minutes, maybe? Their sound is catchy and dancey (or maybe I'll just dance to anything, don't quote me on that) and the lyrics are full of nostalgia and references to Dunkin Donuts, all rounded together by Nathan Hardy's powerful and beautiful voice and I fell in love. I suppose the moral is, maybe always trust the band that's named after a kitchen appliance. They're probably worth your time.





You barely have time to breathe that it's time for Real Friends - if, usually, bands tend to turn up late on stage, Real Friends are of the bright and early kind.
The Americans are touring Europe to promote their newest record, 2016's The Home Inside My Head, and it shows as they open with two new tracks, Empty Picture Frames (the band's most recent single) and Colder Quicker. There's not a lot of us in the Backstage and, truth be told, I have never seen the venue that empty, but everyone is happily bouncing up and down, dancing and echoing all the words.


Real Friends clearly are a band tailor made for singalongs, and they will get a few decent ones during that Parisian show. If oldie Anchor Down didn't get the love and reception I thought it would (or maybe I could hear myself too much), most of the other songs will have their words sang by the French crowd, turning the band's bittersweet tunes into the anthems they deserve to be.


I have a deep, personal attachment to Real Friends. I started listening to them a couple of years ago as I was nursing a broken heart and their words were the only ones that matched how I was feeling. I can't help but being taken back to those times and feel a tug on my heartstrings when I listen to songs like Summer, I've Given Up on You or I Don't Love You Anymore, but hearing them live has the exact opposite effect - I have a big smile on my face and am overwhelmed by the pride of having made it through hell and back. All these songs get played by the band on Tuesday, and, as a surprise encore, we lose our voices and get them to add the heartbreaking Cover You Up to the setlist. (It doesn't stay heartbreaking for a long time as I'm too busy singing along with my mates and laughing because frontman Dan Lambton has the lyrics out on his phone).
This setlist wasn't just made for singalongs - it was a friendly reminder that I'm strong and I made it to the other side just fine, and I'm not a broken girl anymore, but a girl whose favourite songs haven't been ruined by heartbreak, by curling up on a Travelodge floor in tears or by waking up in a panic as I'd fallen asleep listening to them. They're just my favourite songs, full stop, and like every other favourite song of mine, they were meant to sing along to with my friends.



Tuesday was one of those gigs that probably won't go down in history for its turnout, and I doubt it will be cherished by Real Friends as one of their best gigs ever. They probably had a better time in France supporting All Time Low, two years ago. But for us, at least for me, I suppose it will remain somewhere as one of those gigs that were a suspended moment in time, when we got to interact with a band on stage more than you do at your average gig, when we got to be up close and personal with a band that is getting more popular each tour they're doing.

I kinda want to say that I had a blast dancing and singing along and getting really emo with my friends, but that's an easy open door for a terrible "real friends" pun and I'm not going down that road.