Young Aviators were the support band for the evening, and although their name rang a bell I’d not heard any of their music. They are signed to the same record label as The Subways however so I expected good things from them – I wasn’t disappointed. Although I bought both EPs of the band on the night I’ve not had chance to listen to them yet but I would advise anyone to pick up a copy if possible!
After the Young Aviators left the stage it was time to prepare for The Subways. The floor soon filled up and we were stood in the center of a very large crowd for such a small place.
After what seemed like eternity they hit the stage kicking into a classic, and fan favourite ‘Oh Yeah’. Immediately the crowd went mental jumping and dancing to the music. What a way to start the show!
Next was another classic, and one I didn’t expect to hear – Young for Eternity. Again this sent the crowd mental with the 3 piece already going mental on stage. For what is a fairly small band the stage presence they have is immense.
Following on from this were 2 songs from the last album ‘Obsession’ and ‘Alright’. Obsession continued on with the heavy hitting rock anthem style the set list had been so far, where as ‘Alright’ slowed the pace down slightly. By this point however I was grateful as despite being only 4 songs into the set I was already ready to pass out almost.
The welcome breather lasted just long enough for me to regain my composure before yet another classic ‘Mary’ which Billy said was about his mum. Sadly for what is such an amazing song it did get slightly overshadowed by what was about to come.
‘We Don’t Need Money To Have A Good Time’ was the first of 3 brand new songs played on the evening. Billy said he wrote this song after going to the pub with some friends and a friend saying ‘It’s ok, we don’t need money to have a good time’ and is about the financial state of the world today. The song sounded amazing and has a really catchy beat to it – for a song that most of the crowd had probably never heard before the reception it received was amazing and the crowd never let the atmosphere drop for a second.
As if the band were worried this might happen they followed up with one of my favourite songs from the last album ‘Shake Shake’ and ‘I Want To Hear What You’ve Got To Say’. Yet again these songs we’re very similar to most of the rest of the set list so far and the crowd lapped it up going absolutely mental and singing along when the band stopped playing for just a few seconds to watch.
At this point in the night we had moved from one side of the stage, to the other, and back again. I looked around to find my +1 for the evening who had never seen The Subways before to see if he was enjoying it – he was. ‘If you think that was mental just wait until Rock and Roll Qu….’ I mouthed.
I hadn’t even finished my sentence when the familiar tune kicked in and the roar of the crowd went up. ‘Rock and Roll Queen’ has to be one of, if not the, fan favourite songs the band has ever recorded. The gig suddenly went up another notch that I didn’t think was possible! I half expected Billy’s trademark stage diving to come during this song but it didn’t, the band seemed to be having too much fun on stage with Billy jumping from drum kits and Charlotte bouncing around the entire stage.
The second new song of the night came straight after Rock and Roll Queen and was called ‘Celebrity’. It had a lot to live up to coming straight after such a big song, and in my eyes was a gamble from the band to play a new song at this point of the set. Boy was I wrong however; the crowd was still ecstatic from the previous song and once more the song showcased some of the delights we can expect from the new album when it arrives in September.
The next two tracks were again from the last album. ‘Girls and Boys’ and ‘Turnaround’. Although I enjoy both these songs immensely ‘Turnaround’ had to be the stand out track for me. I’m not sure why but the song seemed different to the rest of the set list despite once again being of very similar style. Perhaps it’s the fact Charlotte has more of a lead vocal part in the song which made it stand out I’m not sure – Or perhaps, just maybe it was the MASSIVE circle pit the band got the whole crowd to do! Safe to say the crowd was once again going mental for this one, which spilled over, into an amazing finish of ‘With You’
The band left the stage to a rapturous applause and cheers followed closely by chants of ‘1AM! 1AM! 1AM!’ until the band emerged back on stage a few minutes later to yet more cheers!
The chanters (including me) were not to be disappointed as 1AM kicked straight in as the band kicked off again with the encore. Amazingly the crowd still had energy to dance and sing along never letting up for a second.
The final song of the evening was (what is to be) new single ‘It’s a Party’. I was really looking forward to hearing this song as I’d seen a few clips on YouTube and it sounded amazing. Once more I was not let down with a song that is already becoming one of my favourite songs of the year. After some stage diving from Billy and some more huge cheers and applause the band left the stage for the last time but left behind some amazing memories of an amazing gig for everyone who attended.
Usually I would leave my thoughts there, but on this occasion I can’t. Shortly before the show I received a tweet from Billy saying to hang around after the show to speak to them after I had commented I was unable to speak to them as they walked past me at the bar previously due to being ‘star struck’. Obviously knowing the band were coming out for a chat with fans was too good to miss out on so we waited around for them to appear.
Billy was first out, shortly followed by both Charlotte and Josh. All 3 of them were very happy to chat to fans, have photos and sign pretty much anything which is something you rarely seem to find in bands now a days.
All 3 of the band are some of the nicest people I have ever met and haven’t let fame get to their heads. They are still down to earth people who know that it is the fans that have helped them get where they are today and they will do almost anything for them in return (I said almost).
They say never meet your idols…. This time they were wrong!
Billy, Charlotte and Josh – If you ever read this thank you so much for one of the best nights of my life, you are all amazing! I’ll see you in the autumn!
Set List in Full
Oh Yeah
Young For Eternity
Obsession
Alright
Mary
We Don’t Need Money
Shake Shake!
I Want To Hear What You’ve Got To Say
Rock And Roll Queen
Celebrity
Girls and Boys
Turnaround
With You
1AM
It’s a Party
