Angels and Airwaves, Give It a Name Festival 29/04/06
After the demise of Blink 182 you could’ve been forgiven for suggesting that guitarist Tom DeLonge might struggle without his two buddies. However, on his recent tour of the UK with his new band Angels and Airwaves, he proved otherwise.
Thousands packed the Manchester Evening News arena for the ‘Give it a Name Festival’, featuring such bands as Taking Back Sunday and The Lost Prophets. However, there was a general feeling that most were here for the unveiling of DeLonge’s new project, Angels and Airwaves.
Fortunately, chants of ‘Bring back Blink’ were few and far between - people seemed into the new sound as the band played through most of their new album ‘We Don’t Need To Whisper’.
Their sound is darker, somewhat slower than Blink 182. Without the input of Mark Hoppus on bass, comparisons could be drawn with DeLonge’s last project, Box Car Racer.
Prior to the band’s first overseas tour, their album had been leaked to web users, apparently by DeLonge himself who didn’t want people at his gigs to not know his songs!
As lively as the band were, they didn’t quite have the magic of the famed Blink trio. However on this performance, their debut album (out 22nd May) will be worth a listen. If you’re not prepared to go that far, at least check out their first single, ‘The Adventure’ playing now on radios across campus.
Reviewed by Steve Morrison
