YOUNG GUNS play an album release show at The Borderline in London.

For a band who have been shaking places and people technically for about a decade, it may be surprising to play a gig at a 300-capacity venue such as The Borderline. But for a band who are ready to release their fourth studio album, well there is nothing better than celebrating that fact with a bunch of the most dedicated fans.

The atmosphere of the night was definitely a sweaty one (and that was long before a gigantic heat decided to visit the city of London ). The restless bodies tightly squeezed next to each other making a few first rows totally impassable. The opening bands Drones and Greywind had a pretty good crowd in front of them but it was obvious everyone was waiting impatiently for Young Guns to appear on stage.

And when they did, it was clear from the start that they came down all this way to make a lot of mess and a lot of noise. Having kicked off with the opening line It’s a mad, mad, mad, mad world of their latest offering, Mad World, taken from their upcoming new record Echoes, Young Guns were anything but quiet. The literally mad guitar riffs and intensifying drums filled up the next track, Weight Of The World, which was a bow down to the band’s debut album All Our Kings Are Dead (2010) and which fans treated like a meeting with an old friend.

Besides their new massive single Bulletproof, Young Guns showcased a completely new track, Careful What You Wish For, which may have indicated a softer approach but certainly did not resound any less infectious or powerful as two, already heard, cuts off of their highly-anticipated album, which will be out this Friday. Worth to add, the sound of familiar melodic rock, typical for the band, is still there. It hasn’t changed, it has evolved.

The fans seemed to receive new material with open arms, as well as their old favourites. The song Brothers In Arms (Bones 2012) got to be played alongside the heavy I Want Out and emotive Stitches whilst the lyrics So don’t bow down when you could be rising up (Rising Up) echoed, undoubtedly the loudest, across the room.

Gustav Wood makes a charismatic and confident frontman, constantly trying to engage with the audience. His strong stage presence helps not to loose, or even expose, a tight connection with the crowd. There was a lot of jumping around and hanging on the edge with some stage diving teasing, what of course made all gathered fans hope for a crazy crowdsurfing action. That’s what you expect from a rock show after all, isn’t it? Perhaps better luck next time.

What’s more, Young Guns have never strayed away from anger or state issues. This is way Wood openly spoke about the political situation in America, the gun matter specifically. The band spent the summer on the VANS Warped Tour in the USA and the lead singer did not hide his excitement about being back in the country. It was their first London show in a while.

The tracks from the band’s debut album and 2015’s Ones and Zero played a dominant role in the night’s repertoire. Crystal Clear and Meter & Verse landed on the setlist, with a short version of Speaking In Tongues, while the hit Daylight was seemingly the most emotional moment of the entire performance when the singer dedicated it to everyone in the room, saying how lucky they were. Wood‘s soaring vocals beautifully embraced the notes making the lyrics You’re not alone / I know you don’t believe it / But all we need is daylight tower over the audience what made a grand finale to the main set.

Having returned with all energy that was left, Young Guns presented an encore composed of the title track of next album, Echoes, and one of their most significant songs, Bones, meeting all expectations, judging by loud screams hailing from the crowd.

It is fair to say that, by the end they hit the last note, everyone could feel it in their bones they were not alone. Even if for this one particular night.

Young Guns are about to play a couple of shows in the USA followed by a UK tour with Billy Talent beginning October 12th.

New eleven-track album Echoes is due for release on Sep 16th via Wind-up Records.

Photos: Kasia Osowiecka