And if that wasn’t enough, that seems to be the story of the night here. Openers Laruso get things started with an awful set of music, which wasn’t too far off Fightstar’s sound anyway. A horrible overwhelming guitar noise took away from the other wise average music, which some guy screams his lungs out thinking he’s talented, while the rest of the band just fill the gaps with a wall of noise that doesn’t go anywhere. Granted, this vocalist is currently filling in as they have just lost their vocalist, but that doesn’t take away how bad this is.

Next are Swedish label mates Last Days of April, and, as you can expect from a Deep Elm Records band, offer an ethereal, uplifting and emo/Indie styled romp of music to enjoy. But, as Appleseed Cast and Settlefish prove time and time again there’s better ways to do it. That’s not to say Last Days of April are bad, but, they’re fairly generic in their approach and don’t really come up with anything too special. A fairly tight performance though, even if most of the audience didn’t get it.

Roll on what many of the crowd were waiting for then, which was amazingly their first time in Norwich, despite being an incredibly hard working and heavily touring band. And this was quite apparent by the amount of people who came just too finally get a chance to see Reuben live. And they most certainly do not disappoint, as they rip through their set with impressive confidence, and even enjoyment, something that seems to be rarer and rarer these days, perhaps because the bands themselves know their music isn’t that good? Anyway, it’s slightly criminal that Reuben only get about 30 minutes to play, but they make sure to make the most of it by featuring a set which actually includes tracks from right across their career. Seems an odd approach that a support band would only play three songs from their latest album, but perhaps they knew that the audience tonight would appreciate anything Reuben would play. And it does seem the case for most of the time, but not every choice is a good one. For instance, recent single ‘Keep it to Yourself’ is one of the only songs to be played from VFVD, which is a bit of a shame because, not only is it one of their weaker songs, but it gives all the “Eugh, their just trying to be Nirvana” critics some sort of self-approved justification, which could have been avoided which a better choice of set. However, there is no faulting the rest of the set or how they play it. ‘Some Mothers Do Have ‘em’ and ‘Let’s Stop Hanging Out’ are most certainly the highlights here of a fantastic set, but where was ‘Blamethrower’? Seriously!

But Reuben came and went, and once the only inch of talent had left the stage, (which I might add, a majority of the crowd were requesting an encore for), the night went back in the dull, incredibly loud mediocrity as Fightstar took stage. There’s no denying that they have some stage presence, the audience were mostly going crazy for them; you couldn’t turn with out bumping into a devil horn. But, they don’t really relish the fact that they’re playing a near sold-out big venue very much, the only conversation they can think of is “yeah people from Norwich and Ipswich are friends yeah?” Cue defining boo’s at the mention of Ipswich, followed by “Scum” for the football literate in the crowd (not many, then.)

As for the set, the sound was predictably bad which seems to be a recurring problem at the UEA venue as nearly all headline bands play so loud that you can’t make anything out. This of course not deterring the mosh-pitting teenagers of the crowd, but it perhaps took away from Fightstar’s set unfairly. But there’s only so long you can keep giving excuses for them, because the simple fact is, Fightstar’s music isn’t very good. I couldn’t care less what pop band Charlie was pretty much made to participate in for years, Fightstar’s music is boring, unoriginal and clichéd at best. Virtually every song is either stolen from a Biffy Clyro song, or an already overused “breakdown” which seems to be the shield of armour for success for any remotely heavy band nowadays. Simpson’s lyrics have none of the intelligence or wit of other “Emo” bands, and his vocals are about the only saving grace. Every time Al Westaway opens his mouth for backing vocals, he cannot be heard due to the wall of noise going on around him, and when ever he and Simpson do a two-part harmony, it sounds horrible.

There really was nothing that impressed me about this set, which was a shame; because this was the first real chance I’ve given Fightstar. Yes, there’s reason why they weren’t sounding their best, but this doesn’t take away how lifeless the music is. Still, here’s hoping Reuben come back on a headlining tour eh?