Review by Niall Flack

Check out our photos from the gig here.

Lostprophets returned to Belfast on the 16th of April on the second date of their tour in support of new album Weapons.

First up are UK Dubstep act Modestep. I’ll nail my colours to mast early, I’ve never really got into dubstep – the glitchy bass heavy sound doesn’t really do it for me and Modestep don’t do anything to change my opinion. They aren’t helped by poor sound – whether it is bad sound production or the Ulster Hall cannot cope with the bass, you can feel the bass reverberate around the hall for the entirety of their set which at times swallows up the vocals. More popular songs are sampled throughout their set one song in particular including both Bitter Sweet Symphony by the Verve and Killing In the Name Of by Rage Against The Machine. For the most part the majority of the crowd seem disinterested, a command from DJ Tony Friend to “fuck security and mosh the fuck out” to the final song seems to go largely unheard. Although not helped by the sound quality Modestep were poor, a rating of 3/10 is generous.

Lostprophets come on to a wild scream in matching shirts, skinny jeans and matching side parting haircuts. They’ve got their look down to a tee and the teenage girls in the crowd lap it up. First song of the night is the lead song from the new album – “Bring ‘Em Down” and it’s a good start. There is a marked improvement in the sound quality from Modestep with only a small echo detected. Newer songs dictate the set list for the next 5 tracks, only “We Bring An Arsenal” with its sing along chorus gets the crowd going. Up until this point the crowd are pretty subdued, and there seems to be a little bit of frustration from front man Iain Watkins as he has his first bit of banter with the crowd asking if they’d rather be at home watching Emmerdale. There’s just enough time for the band to sweep their side partings before it takes “Wake Up” to literally wake up the crowd. This sets the scene for the rest of the gig with crowd favourites drawing a fantastic reaction. “Where we Belong” is the first big highlight of the night with the 15 year old girls in front of me going mental. “Last Summer” is a big crowd pleaser, along with the sight of all 6 members shedding their shirts to reveal matching t-shirts it gives the girls another chance to scream. This is followed up by “Rooftops” with its big chorus the whole crowd gets involved, old favourite “Shinobi Vrs Dragon” gets the crowd bouncing. There’s a nice slow intro into “Last Train Home” and there is one last chance for the crowd to bounce and go crazy band finishing up with “Burn Burn”. All songs get a great response from the crowd and drummer Luke Johnson manages to drum standing up without letting his scarf slip once.
The encore is a rather damp squid, with the majority of hits already played Lostprophets choose to go with two slower numbers and finish with “Sway”. Overall if you get past the boyband styling Lostprophets are an excellent live band with a thoroughly enjoyable set – they get a 8/10 from me.

Review by Niall Flack

Check out our photos from the gig here.