From Ashes to New Fill The Dome in London Debut

Words and Photos by Dave Martin/Faversham Photography

Since reviewing From Ashes to New’s Deluxe Blackout album a couple of years ago, I have been hooked on their music so when their first UK gig was announced I jumped at the chance to review the dynamic Pennsylvanian five piece. Supporting the Nu-metallers, were London based nu-postgrunge Paradise Fell and Swiss alternative rock duo Comastatic. Playing to a sell out crowd the night was sure to electric.

Opening the nights entertainment was Paradise Fell. The band delivered a passionate, enthusiastic set packed with movement, crowd interaction and bold visual lighting. Singer Matty Bankhurst addressed the audience “London! What the fuck is up?!” and was met with cheers. The band members showed high levels of energy with constant movement around the stage accentuated with the occasional jump from bassist Otto who gained a good degree of air.  The capacity crowd were also animated and the temperature in the building was rising leading to Matty removing his shirt before launching into song “Super Turbo”. Getting to his knees and leaning on the front monitor the vocalist got up close and personal with the audience at the stage edge. The group were loving every moment of their open slot thanking those gathered as the fan roared their approval at the end of the set. “Cheers, thank you very much” was the message from the band before leaving stage left.

Second on the evening’s entertainment card were Comastatic. The band were quick to interact with the crowd with singer Mattia Di Paologet up close and personal with the front rowkneeling down to give the audience members assembled there a more intimate experience. Adding his own level of energy guitarist Giuliano Luongo started spinning in circles while playing. Following the completion of the first track Mattia addressed those in front of him, “We’re Comastatic and we’re so happy to see you guys today” whilst raising his hands in a horns gesture before starting to jump. The room erupted as the crowd also started jumping synchronised with the vocalist. Not to be outdone with the stagemanship, the bands’ drummer could also be seen performing stick tricks that were well received by those gathered. In an unscheduled example of compassion, the singer called for security to support a lady in the front row who was clearly struggling before recommencing the set once it was clear she was ok. As the set was coming to an end Giuliano and Mattia jumped in unison before they gave their appreciation for the crowd, “Thank you so much London we fucking love you”.

The temperature has continued to rise in complete contrary to the space in the room that seemed to diminish as more and more fans entered the building in anticipation of the headline band. The PA played it’s normal array of genre appropriate background music before all of a sudden the backing track faded to be replaced by Backstreet boys classic Backstreet’s back. In what is becoming a common spectacle the crowd were in full voice singing along to the song From Ashes to New had chosen as the prelude to their performance. The anticipation was palpable and many of the punter’s held their phones aloft to capture the entrance of the first timers to London. As the first member entered the stage the crowd erupted but this clearly wasn’t loud enough for the band as the first interaction was “I can’t fucking hear you London” as Matt Bradyberry signalled for the noise levels to get louder before the group launched into “New Disease”. The energy did not abate as the song concluded as the audience were commanded “From the front to the back I want everyone jumping on the count of three” before “Nightmare” was unleashed with Danny Care commenting “I can’t fucking hear you London! I wanna hear your sing this shit”. The Americans were clearly enamoured with the UK crowd praising them “Everyone sings the lyrics so much louder over here (compared to America)”and “No lie you guys are the loudest I’ve ever heard”. The members showed their emotion on how grateful they were that almost every leg of the European tour had sold out.

The band were having some unseen technical difficulties and Matt was improvising and during this, spots a crowd member requesting to sing “Hate me Too” with the band. The audience member is pulled on stage and invited to sit on the drum riser and join in for verse 2. As the verse starts the performance is strong and so was encouraged to join in more duetting with Danny. On completion of the song Matt praised the performance and the man facing his anxiety by performing.

The room was electric and the band were clearly feeling it too as Matt reaffirmed “We’re fucking coming back London. We’re fucking coming back!”      

Taking a step back Matt calls for the audience to get their phone torches out for “Barely Breathing” before thanking the crowd for their participation.

The animation from the crowd was frenetic with  a circle pit, crowd surfers, jumping and pumping fists all in response to From Ashes to New’s beckoning as the chemistry between band and audience grew through the evening climaxing when Danny called “I wanna see the biggest fucking pit tonight” to which the people in the middle of the room dutifully obliged.

The evening lived up to all expectations, and I can’t wait to see From Ashes to New live again. The band released their new album to coincide with their London gig and from the reactions to the live performance of some of the songs it will undoubtably be a massive hit. The future is bright for this band and it won’t be long until they are selling out much bigger venues.