When best buds ROAM and With Confidence announced they would be co-headlining a tour right across the UK and Europe together, fans across the country were excited, to say the least.

ROAM, the British rockers from Eastbourne, have been around for quite a few years now and they’ve been knocking out excellent songs one after the other. Their labelmates With Confidence, the Australian pop-punkers from Sydney, are equally as experienced and in the past few years, they have really come into their own going from writing angsty teenage tracks to solid pop-punk anthems. Seeing them both on the same stage in the same night was a treat for all who came to see them and a must for any pop-punk fan in 2019.

This is the second time Woes have been in this venue in a week and they were clearly right at home on the stage. They have been touring hard in support of their album Awful Truth a record full of varied songs that went over well with the audience. Much like their performance last week many fans had come early to see them play and not miss out on a band that is destined to go from support act to headliners in the not so distant future. The Audience enjoyed the set and danced and sang back at the boys in unison, without any need for an invitation to do so.

With Confidence came out and were exactly that oozing with confidence, they exploded onto the stage with pop-punk catchy song ‘Moving Boxes’ from their most recent album Love and Loathing. The crowd screamed out and immediately started jumping and dancing and the room was filled with wonderful energy. Honestly, all of the songs from Love and Loathing are hits in the making so whatever they were going to play next would have extended that energy throughout the set. Although the set itself turned out to be more varied then fans might have expected. 

This set was a good one for fans who have been around a while as the boys played more songs from Better Weather than Love and Loathing. A great sign that the show was as much about entertainment as it is about selling albums for With Confidence. There were a couple thrown in from Distance too including the fan favourite ‘London Lights’. By the time they got to the end of their amazing set the only complaint that anyone in the room could have is that it didn’t last long. The time during the set seemed to go quickly which is always great as that old saying goes, “time flies when you’re having fun.”  They ended their leg of the show with ‘Voldemort’ and the crowd kicked off leaving things on a high that ROAM would resume after the little break between bands.

That break seemed to last forever as the crowd waited patiently for ROAM to bless them with their presence, and what a blessing it was. The emerged like the heroes of the hour and immediately jumped in at the deep end playing ‘I Don’t Think I Live There Anymore’ from their recently released Smile Wide. Fans have had less than a month to get to know the songs from the record. No surprises here that a new album meant an updated setlist filled mainly with new songs. They are however brilliant songs which simply can not be disputed and they were received well by eager ears in the packed out room.

In between the new and hugely popular songs, there were sprinklings of oldies to keep the die-hards going. This included a few songs from Great Heights & Nosedives an album that was packed full of pop-punk perfection. They offered up ‘Alive’ and ‘Flatline’ to the crowd, right near the beginning of the set, who lapped them up instantly. The beat to these tunes vibrated through the room and had the audience dancing to the good vibes. However, it seemed like as soon as the band’s leg of this pop-punk relay race had started it was time to pass the finish line and the set was over. The crowd heckled for an encore not satisfied with the fix they’d been given, dying for more which they got in the way of one song — ‘Playing Fiction’.

The show was a great night and there were no criticisms to be had. The crowd enjoyed it and it was obvious that the bands enjoyed it too. If you can catch a show for any of the later dates on the tour make sure you do if you’re on the fence, jump off because you will not be disappointed.