On my Birthday I was really lucky to get hold of a ticket to see one of the biggest bands made MASSIVE by YouTube – Walk off the Earth.
Their YouTube channel is awash with brilliant cover versions and original songs, most of them have brilliantly clever music videos to accompany them. They are all PAINFULLY talented on a wide range of instruments, and have the creative talent to add their twist on whatever they perform. If you want to find out more about them, then their Wiki Page is a great place to start. After a few pints and a cheeky Wagamama with Dan, I headed over to the O2 Empire – Shepherd Bush with my lovely companion Chard.
Up first were the support act ‘Camera 2’, they were obviously very inspired by 80’s music, and that’s no bad thing, I *love* a bit of 80’s Music – but these guys – well – they weren’t my cup of tea. It was all a bit moody and sulky, and just didn’t really fit with the ‘fun’ nature of Walk of the Earth. Chard and I were doing a lot of clock watching as they performed, not to mention having a few trips to the bar to see if alcohol would make things better. It didn’t.
Nine o’clock came and the stage burst into life with all the Walk off the Earth magic I was expecting. They are touring their album ‘Revo’ which is mostly original songs with a few cheeky covers thrown in. What I loved about their performance, is because similar to their videos there is just so much stuff happening in the background. You’ll have seemingly random people wandering on stage and joining in, then disappearing, plus instrument swaps and changes in the middle of songs, all impeccably timed and well rehearsed. It’s fab!
I’m really pleased I recorded some videos of the songs because you don’t always see what’s happening in the background the first time around. Something else Walk of the Earth are known for is throwing instruments – not to damage them obviously, just to switch to something else. This is all perfectly timed with the stage hands grabbing them from the air, it’s amazing to watch, I think one Uke might have got missed though, one of them was looking a little battered by the end!
With most live performances there were a couple of ‘we’ll try a new track’ moments where the crowd were a little ‘Nahhh.. Play something we know!!’, but on the whole Walk off the Earth had the Empire captivated for two wonderful hours. There were massive balloons, ticker tape, air cannons and even an entire audience selfie!
The whole band did seem genuinely shocked at having 2000 people in a foreign country turn up and watch them perform, they seemed taken-aback and humbled by the British reception, after eight years of hard work, they really do deserve every success they are having! I think my only criticism was when they performed their cover of Goyte’s ‘Somebody that I used to know’ (with over 157 MILLION hits on YouTube), they went off to the far stage right, which meant half the audience couldn’t really see! A relatively minor issue on what was a fantastic show!
The final song was the rather anthemic ‘Summer Vibe’ which had the entire O2 Empire Shepherds Bush singing away too, it was the perfect song to end the night with, and as you can see from the video below the stage got a little busy..
That was it! The night was over, Chard and I said our goodbyes and made our way off into the night, it was a great way to finish off my birthday, a bit drunk, a good mate and one of my favourite bands.
