Highwire Magazine

Against The Current have been making waves in the industry for a while now and earlier in the week Rocksound Magazine crowned them Best International Artist in their annual award show.

Fresh off of that high, the band rocked up in London ready to impress with their two-night stint at the Islington Assembly Hall. It was absolutely chucking it down outside but that didn’t stop the hoards of Against The Current fans descending on Islington in mass to hear their favourite songs live from this talented trio.

Before we could get to that part of the evening we were presented with the support act: emo rapper guccihighwaters. You may not have heard of him but it’s a name you want to listen out for in the future, his mix of hip-hop and emo with exceptional lyrics are likely to make him a hit. 

Onlookers could sense that not that many people in the audience had heard of him either, confirmed when he asked how many people were hearing him for the first time and was answered with loud whoops. However alien he was to them he did get the crowd to dance during a few of his songs and all of the tracks were great; he was very entertaining.

Then the clock hit 9 pm and it was time for Against The Current. The build-up to the first song was intense and anticipation from the crowd could be felt from the front to the back of the room. Then out came guitarist Dan Gow, and drummer Will Ferri to cheers and whoops. Vocalist Chrissy Costanza was not far behind them and of course, she got an extra loud cheer before the band kicked in with ‘Voices’. 

Those incredible vocals that Costanza is known for really shone through and as she finished the song she hit the exact right note with the crowd, who broke out into raucous applause for that last note especially. Keeping up that opening energy, the band followed on with ‘Running With The Wild Things’ and then ‘Young and Relentless’, both epic songs from their debut full-length album In Our Bones.

After hitting hard with many upbeat songs portrayed with the dramatic flair of true rockstars, Against The Current momentarily left the stage. Meanwhile, an electric piano was brought out down front, with a rubber duck poised at each end. Ferri came back on stage and sat down behind the keys and everyone in the room knew what followed would be a little more relaxing. Costanza and Ferri proceeded to give the kind of rendition of ‘Brighter’ and ‘Comeback Kid’ that sends a tingle run through your body. It was perfect.

They are not the band that inspires its audience to create circle pits or walls of death. Though there was plenty of dancing being done in the crowd, and not to mention a high level of sing-alongs. When the time was right the crowd jumped up and down but there was nothing really wild going on in this room. Costanza jumping and dancing around whilst hitting every note perfectly is practically exhausting just to watch. Her energy is ridiculously infectious, so it’s no wonder her fans love her.

This is a band that has built up their fanbase with plenty of hard work, copious amounts or touring and a lots of catchy melodies. Predictably they’re often compared to Paramore, CHVRCHES and Misterwives because they’re a female-fronted band but since that’s not actually a genre they shouldn’t be labelled as such.

On the subject of the genre, it’s a little hard to pin them down into just one, as their albums take us on a journey through emo, pop-punk, 80’s synth and beyond but… who needs labels anyway? All you need to know is they really do put on a show.

Unfortunately, this show was over rather too quickly, and the time seemed to fly by. It’s always the way when a band puts on an amazing performance. Luckily the audience were treated to a short encore including their classic ‘Gravity’. Fans at this show caught sight of an out of this world performance that nothing could bring back down to earth.