Have you had 'That Sunday Feeling' on a saturday? Rock City in Nottingham did on 15th January 2011.

Joe from That Sunday Feeling

That Sunday Feeling, Go-X, Paint This Town, Hey! Alaska and A Far Cry From Innocence.

Sticky underfoot with the stench of the stale beer and body odour already hanging in the claustrophobic air of the infamous Rock City ‘Basement’, the generous sized audience were prepared for a full night of what the five British rock bands were willing to give.

‘A Far Cry From Innocence’ successfully damaged the hearing of many teens with their insanely loud ‘screamo’ lyrics and heavy instrumentals, which were unable to be contained inside of the basement walls. Although at times the music itself was great the mic was a little too loud for the capacity of the crowd and the size of the venue, making most of the actual ‘lyrics’ inaudible. With such a short time on stage it is hard for a band to showcase their music and band personality at the same time, although ‘A Far Cry From Innocence’ were extremely lively and partially engaged with the audience, there were obvious big time fans or friends in the crowd causing the band to divert their attentions more towards them.  This aside the crowd gave an enthusiastic reception to the borderline metal band, and the size of the venue did not deter the true rockers from forming a mosh pit in the centre of the room lasting until the band’s final song. Technical modifications would have made A Far Cry From Innocence’s set more enjoyable; however they were able to fill the venue with energy and readied the audience for the rest of the acts.

The second band, ’Hey! Alaska’, had played Rock City previously when they supported Madina Lake, the alternative rock band from Chicago. The transition from Main Stage to the basement must have been an uncomfortable adjustment; however ‘Hey! Alaska’, the pop punk band from Middlesbrough, seemed to manage to not let the size of the stage bring their spirits down.  The heavy growling ‘screamo’ dial being slightly turned down from the last band, ‘Hey! Alaska’ mixed the melodic pop punk vocals from guitar/vocalist Jamie with the ‘screamo’ from lead singer Luke. Right from the start ‘Hey! Alaska’ were dominating the stage, throwing picks and jumping to the barrier whilst blasting some massive tracks, echoing off the basement walls. The instrumentals mainly reflected the true pop-punk sound with the occasional hints of harder rock and almost soft metal at times. ‘Hey! Alaska’ truly managed to separate themselves from just being one of the five other groups that night, acting as if it were an arena tour they were headlining’ giving their best and the audience appreciated it.

Third on the massive running order of the basement antics was ‘Paint this Town’, the band, who looked surprisingly young to be already performing at Rock City, presented the crowd with even a less heavy more pop-punk sound. The growling was now obsolete. Proving to be more upbeat than the first two bands, ‘Paint This Town’ had caused the moshers to freeze and the jumping to start, catching the attentions of the less heavy music inclined to uncover their ears. The band had not travelled far being based in Nottingham, making Rock City almost their home ground. Their passion was apparent from the minute they set up; they were obviously ready to headline their own tour but seemed equally as happy to be sharing the spotlight with the other bands. ‘Paint This Town’ performed a cover of ‘Poker Face’ that Lady Gaga would be envious of. The band are definitely a great listen and an unsigned band to watch out for. By the end of the set their efforts were visible through the sweat they had worked up whilst playing. Promising to come back to Nottingham again in March ‘Paint This Town’ will undoubtedly have some reoccurring audience members.


The first thing most of the crowd would have noticed about the next band, ‘Go-X’, is that the lead singer must be insane. As soon as he took to the stage he claimed he would pay for the mic stand if he broke it during the set, and then he went out of his way to break it, perhaps this was his ‘music persona’. It was almost as if the music stirred something inside of him to become a destructive hyperactive individual, accompanied by the well played music from the slightly more sane members of the band. Very audience wary lead singer, Josh, frequently jumped to the barrier to get ‘up close and personal’ with the fans, which they seemed to enjoy. The crowd fed off Josh’s energy only to be hyped up more by the band’s music. The mixed genre sound reflected pop-punk on caffeine, the adrenaline injected tracks were spurted out faster than a child on coffee, even though the lyrics were blurred at that speed the overall sound of the band was something that is not heard often and may even be new to some ears. ‘Go-X’ undeniably have the presence and personality to survive as a band. Josh even introduced himself to barrier dwellers after their set, making the band come across as approachable which always scores points with the fans.

Josh from Go-X

Last but not least, the ‘headliners’ of this tour, although they shared the same amount of time on stage as the other bands. ‘That Sunday Feeling’ are the modern definition of a pop-punk band, their energetic beats and riffs had everyone jumping, dancing and, those who were familiar with them, singing along.  Technical difficulties affected this band more than the other, with one member attempting to use a wireless amp connector which failed to work. Confidence is something that the band, especially the lead singer was not lacking, there was definitely an air of self-love that was apparent when the band got into their set, and perhaps this enabled the band to perform at their best. This aside they performed very well, not losing the appetite to perform even when looking a little worn out. The music was fantastic, and the crowd was even treated to a mini drum solo. The solos were lacking in the whole of the evening which made a drum solo from ‘That Sunday Feeling’ refreshing. The band were extremely popular, fans shoving one another to get to the barrier when the lead was stood there. They let their fans down at the end of the night by not coming back for an encore song even though the crowd was excitedly chanting ‘T-S-F’. Due to the venue’s ‘HeyHeyHey’ club night there was a curfew which meant if the bands were to sell their merchandise to fans an encore had to be sacrificed. Generally the crowd were not dissatisfied by the band’s performance and would most likely; judging by the screams, see the band perform again in the near future.

All of the bands performed at their best, perhaps trying to shine through the massive line-up of five bands. The timing for each to showcase their band was perhaps too short and rushed. Despite this the music was electric, some band members were eccentric and there was the occasional guitar riff or refreshing drum solo which really lit-up the dull Rock City basement.

Jack from A Far Cry From Innocence

Luke from Hey! Alaska



Andy from Paint This Town