Two hours before the gig, I was in my living room, pale as a sheet, coughing my lungs out, stuffing my face with ibuprofene, almost passing out. My brother, looking concerned, asked me if I was sure that I wanted to go. Reasonably, I should have stayed in bed.

Apparently I'm not one for being reasonable. (Now that's what I call edgy)

When we get into La Cigale, first thing we notice is the seats on the sides, that weren't here the last time I visited. Venues get refurbs and no one tells me now? Are you really my friends? Second thing is how empty the building is. Apart from the one day with the unfortunate schedule change at Yellowcard, a couple of years ago, I've never seen La Cigale so empty and it doesn't bode well for the rest of the evening. Third thing is that local act The Earl Grey is already on stage at ten past seven when doors were supposed to be at seven.

The mass of photographers working in the (massive) pit tells me that it's still early in the Frenchies' performance, so I can sit back, relax and enjoy the rest of the ride. As I have probably said before and as anyone who's been involved in this scene long enough will tell you, The Earl Grey have a history of supporting pretty much every band that has played our town. They are a staple band, they are part of our history, they are part of who we are. What I seem to appreciate, recently, is how good they have become, how solid their stage presence is. Their dynamic, energetic pop rock goes down a treat and everyone on the floor bounces up and down when invited by frontman Alex Ragon, happily cheering and celebrating their local scene. 

As Ragon thanks the band's girlfriends, friends and the local photographers, I shed a little tear hearing my friends' names being rightfully glorified and I realise one thing. Just like Chunk! No, Captain Chunk!, extortionate pints and the sheer absence of air conditioning, The Earl Grey are home.

Second up are Reading based The Amazons. When I saw them in November, supporting Jimmy Eat World in the absolutely stunning Troxy, in London, they were still completely unknown. It's only been five months and now, they are starting to make waves. Their self-titled début album is among the most awaited releases of 2017, they are being played on daytime radio (at least across the Channel) and next summer, they will be playing the likes of Glastonbury, Latitude and Reading & Leeds. Not too shabby.

Their task tonight is to carry on the good work The Earl Grey have done and get the crowd ready for their headliners. Tough task? Not really, if I'm honest. Who could resist a boogie to such catchy tunes? Their indie-rock sound is infectious and gets inside of your brain easily - just thinking about them is enough to send the riff to Black Magic spiralling in my mind ad vitam aeternam. In La Cigale, heads are bobbing and feet are tapping on the trampoline-like wooden floor, people are dancing and jumping up and down and, considering the line of people buying merch and queuing to meet the English, it's safe to say the evening was an absolute success for The Amazons. 

Frontman Matt Thomson excitedly tells us he used to be in the crowd for You Me At Six shows, crowdsurfing and moshing back in the day, and that for the band, it's an honour playing with them in Europe.

I'd say it was an honour and a delight for us having them play.

Once I am done choking on my own breath to twenty one pilots' mega hit Stressed Out, You Me At Six take the stage of La Cigale to the title track of their most recent album, Night People. The room may not be packed and the balcony may be closed, but the crowd that has decided to spend their Friday night rocking it out with one of Britain's biggest bands is a loud one.  Old songs, new songs, everything is echoed with enthusiasm and France proves that you do not need to be a lot to make yourself heard. 

From the get go, it's easy to tell the evening is a special one, and the explanation why is given to us by frontman Josh Franceschi just before the last song : "We thought tonight was going to be shit, but this is probably the best show of the tour". 
We thought tonight was going to be shit.

I can't blame them for thinking so, I didn't have high expectations myself.

Not because of the band, Christ no.

Just because we all knew the venue was far from being sold out.

The past few times I have seen You Me At Six live, I was far away from the stage and couldn't see properly but this time, I have one of the best views in the house, I have a full view of the stage (and the band has a full view of my terrible dance moves, sorry pals) and I can see how much the five guys my age I used to adore seven years ago have grown. 

When you were a You Me At Six fan back in 2009-2010, they were all about poppy love songs and inside jokes that were iconic for the fanbase ("what's butter?", anyone?). It was a very youthful thing, a bubble of fun and happiness. They were the poster boys of the late noughties UK rock scene and we all had that red HMV poster up in our bedrooms.

It's been seven years, now, and water has gone under the bridge. My love for You Me At Six has quietened down. It's still there, and one should never be fooled when I pretend I don't care - I love these five more than many things in this world. But it's quieter, the jokes are memories and the poster is rolled up, a souvenir of times past. I don't really obsess over bands anymore, not like that. Instead, I watch them grow and I claim, a tear in my eye, that I am proud of my boys.

Last Friday night, I saw the five guys I used to adore seven, eight years ago, the ones whose faces were everywhere in my pink and orange bedroom, the ones whose interviews I could quote by heart and whose lyrics I wrote all over my notebooks. They have grown up, just like me. They have become a brilliant rock band and I am infinitely proud of them and what they have accomplished.

They are ambitious, You Me At Six, now. Just listening once to 2017's Night People shows it. They want to become a big rock band. 

And they have everything in their power to do it. Their musicianship has become truly brilliant, their sound is neat and of high quality. Franceschi's voice is now as great live as it is on record. They are a band tailor made for the stage, who make it look easy. The awkwardness of their first tours is long gone. The English are confident and ambitious, they have attitude and they have style. They know what they are doing and they are doing it well. I've never heard them sound that good before, that neat, that solid.

Josh Franceschi now knows how to speak on stage, he's grown much more confident as a frontman and a speaker. His speech about how much he loves France and its people, how attached he is to our country (he is part French, as he reminds us) and the Bataclan attacks is welcome by a loud round of applause and tears from the girl in the grey t-shirt and burgundy skirt on the left side of the room.

Their setlists are now longer, and they can go the distance, as easy as one, two, three. They cover all albums except 2008's Take Off Your Colours, which is no surprise, if you know a little bit about them. Hearing anything off it live has become a rarity, and I should probably bury my dream of hearing The Liar and the Lighter live, now. 

Everything else is being played, though. One-off The Swarm, released in 2012 for a ride in Thorpe Park, is a song I often forget about when I think of You Me At Six setlists, and everytime they start playing it, it hits me and my brain goes "Oh, now that's a tune!". Oldies Underdog and Stay With Me are echoed by an enthusiastic crowd, alongside 2011's Bite My Tongue, No One Does It Better, Loverboy or Reckless. Cold Night, the Ballad with a capital B from 2013's Cavalier Youth, sees a wonderful singalong in the audience and is the number one proof that Friday didn't need a packed venue to be loud. 

The main reason You Me At Six are touring, though, is to promote their newest record, Night People, released in January. It's only been three months, mind you. You'd feel like it's been ten years. I didn't know what to expect from the crowd on those tracks and I now know the fans have made it their own and know every word. The stunning Spell It Out is a lovely moment, Swear gets people moving and timidly moshing and Give breaks hearts all over the place. (It's totally becoming one of my favourite You Me At Six songs)

The evening that wasn't meant to be a success has become a triumph and I am in tears of joy as the band leaves the stage, Franceschi carrying a French flag ornated with the Night People logo and a big smile on his face. 

Don't ever let me fool you. 

I love You Me At Six more than the world.

Two things, though : 

a) There are way too many gigs that are being put up and then abandoned by their promoters, these days (the Wonder Years disaster at La Maroquinerie was one, With Confidence at the Espace B was another). How do we make this stop? 

b) Early on during the gig, a girl crowdsurfed and ended up on someone's shoulders towards the front, and if it hadn't been for Josh Franceschi getting a security guy to actually do his job, she could have severely injured herself. The second time someone crowdsurfed, they were pushed back into the crowd, which is extremely dangerous. Overall, security didn't have a full grasp of what they were actually meant to do and it's not the first time this happened in this venue - a memory of Architects' frontman Sam Carter calling out security because they were too rough and almost violent towards crowdsurfers springs to mind. It's about time someone cleans up their act, maybe? It's not the bands' job to instruct security on how to treat gig goers.