Hot off the release of their latest album, Dreams of Being Dust, The World Is A Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid To Die (TWIABP) have embarked on a multi-date tour across both the US and Europe, hitting several festivals along the way. During their UK leg of the tour was a date at Nottingham’s Rough Trade, which, for those unfamiliar, is a venue that is the embodiment of intimate – so much so that you may be mistaken where the stage actually may be – tucked away at the back of a bustling bar area where the tables aren’t tables, but music gear flight cases.
Rough Trade is not a venue that you may expect to find a band that, the following day is headlining the Eyesore Merch stage at Manchester’s Damnation Festival, yet here they are. For those who attended, though, you’ll consider yourselves lucky. The walls in this venue are rich with history as they’re emblazoned with scrawls of band names who had been there before, from Everything, Everything, Mallgrab, Pale Waves, Sleep in Motion, and more.
Church of the Rat
Joining TWIABP on their UK tour is the punk band Church of the Rat, the only opener for this show, too, and what an opener they are. Exploding on the stage at a timely 8 pm, the band’s presence immediately smacked you despite the venue still filling up – but that didn’t matter to the band as they certainly gave it their all. Mentioning the venue once again, the stage is tiny – so much so that you might wonder just how a band with six members may all fit. This was evident with Church of the Rat, too, despite only having four members, it was a bit of a tight squeeze. So much so that Sam Davies, the band’s vocalist, took advantage of the space at the front of the crowd.
This move was a good decision, too, as it really helped show the crowd that Church of the Rat weren’t here to fuck around, bringing that basement punk show vibe to Rough Trade and helping get the crowd moving – no easy feat for a support act. This was all assisted by Sam’s showmanship as a frontman, barking powerful vocals with a somewhat flamboyant delivery. He was truly absorbing the moment that evening and made for a compelling watch.
Church of the Rat were able to bring a vibe to the function that was equal parts aggressive but also emotionally charged. Between songs, Sam wasn’t shy about pushing the meanings behind songs, with one being about the murder of the United Healthcare CEO, exclaiming the innocence of Luigi Mangione, while applauding “whoever did it”, then calling out capitalism and the freeing of Palestine – something the crowd absolutely lapped up.
After around thirty minutes of recovering from the onslaught brought on by Church of the Rat, our main act took the stage.
The World Is A Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid To Die
Those at the show may have noticed a bit of a stunted start as there were murmurs of technical issues, but with only a few minutes delay, TWIABP exploded with Dimmed Sun, the opening track from their latest album. This is a pretty interesting track to open with, too, as those familiar with Dreams of Being Dust will know just how heavy this track begins.
With heavy blastbeats from the off, Dimmed Sun almost demands an explosive crowd reaction; however, Rough Trade that evening didn’t quite move as you’d expect from a song kicking off this heavy. Perhaps there’s a lack of familiarity with this album, as it’s only been out for two months, or maybe the intimate venue, with no barriers or security, made the crowd aware of the need to be sensible. Either way, the crowd reaction was a little reserved.
If the new album isn’t quite in your repertoire of The World Is A Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid To Die songs you’re familiar with, then you may have come away a little disappointed, as the majority of the set was made up of tracks from Dreams of Being Dust. The set list that evening had just two other songs, January 10th, 2014 and Heartbeat in the Brain, being from other albums in their catalogue. It was evident from the crowd reaction that these songs were true fan favourites, with January 10th, 2014, having the crowd singing along and moving, only for the usual head-nods coming back when they followed up with Oubliette.
This was addressed by vocalist David Bello early on in the set with his soft-spoken, gentle demeanour, adding that most of the songs they’ll be playing were from the new album, but there are a few older songs in there too, “so there’s something for those who dislike the other”.
It makes sense that their set list would be put together this way, as their latest album has some way heavier instrumentals than some of their previous albums. Those of you familiar with Illusionary Walls will be somewhat at home, but if you’re a bigger fan of Whenever, If Ever for example, it might be a little heavier than you’d expect. That being said, the band certainly performed, even if they were one member short as their guitarist, Anthony Gesa, couldn’t make the tour, so guitar tracks were played in his absence, which the crowd instantly memed, cheering every time his guitar tracks were played.
The show overall was a treat for fans of their entire discography, even if you’re more familiar with their early albums. The World Is A Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid To Die proved that they can pull off a heavier post-hardcore, metalcore-driven setlist with ease while also slipping back into familiar territory with their more melodic emo songs. The band were tight as hell, even with the odd technical issue the band faced, they weren’t deterred and continued to put on one hell of a show.
9/10