The Summer Set

Almost missed this gig. We thought it was next Monday but it turned out it was last night and it's fine because 3 looks like a half 8 and whatever. BUT I'M SO GLAD WE DIDN'T.

The Summer Set played around the UK and had their finale show at the O2 Academy, Islington, London. Although we didn't get VIP passes to meet the band, it was a mind-blowing experience. (It would've been ULTIMATE had The Cab not pulled out but s'alright.)

The show started off with Paradise Fears, a 'baby band' (as described by Brian Dales) that switched up their pop-rock genre with a little spoken word action in some of their songs - kinda rapping, but not fully there, if that makes sense? Very Ed Sheerany! They were good. They got the crowd hyped up and were very accommodating to the fact that they weren't so well known. Their > website <!

The second opener was William Beckett, ex-frontman of the band 'The Academy Is...'. This guy.

He was so charming and brilliantly talented - his solo stuff is spectacular, which isn't surprising as his songwriting talent is phenomenal. You should definitely check it out. I especially liked his song Cracks in the Ceiling and Compromising Me! He also made the best entrance to Eminem's 'The Real Slim Shady'. *Ahem*, I mean, The Real William Beckett. I'm a little bit sad I didn't get to hear 'About A Girl' live but y'know, William Beckett was still a pleasure. His > website <!

And the climax - The Summer Set. I was buzzed. The prospect of seeing Chelsea Kane (who joined the band for a couple of the dates) added fuel to the fire. Unfortunately I didn't, but a friend of mine did! Bah humbug. ANYWAY, the band came on to Rescue. It wasn't the first time we'd caught a glimpse of Brian, as he came in for a Third Eyed Blind cover with Paradise Fears and sang back up for William Beckett's 'Just You Wait' beforehand. 

They sang Chelsea next, which was brilliant. It's crazy, thinking of the kind of energy that emanated the room. They played for about an hour and a half and mixed the playlist up with new songs and oldies. They finished on Legendary, toasted the final show with shots and the infamous 'How I Met Your Mother' canary-yellow coloured umbrella (rumour has it, Chelsea Kane is the one holding it in the IG post Brian uploaded, and is also the one he passed it to after…) and sang 'Yellow', 'Life Goes On' and 'Lightning In A Bottle' as encores. WAAHH. So much goodness. One would even call it LEGENDARY. Their > website <!

OH THE FEELS.

You can see a mash up of snippets on my Instagram, @la_german, so please do go check that out!

:)

L.