A Day To Remember, Moose Blood and Neck Deep @Sporthalle Hamburg - an unforgettable first concert of 2017

 A Day To Remember (also known as ADTR) is a rock band, from Ocala, Florida which formert in 2003. Their music is often described as a mix of metalcore and pop punk, which is a really unusual style. ADTR currently consists of vocalist Jeremy McKinnon, rhythm guitarist Neil Westfall, bassist Joshua Woodard, percussion drummer Alex shelnutt and lead guitarist Kevin Skaff. Until today the Band has released six studio albums - their latest ("Bad Vibrations") in 2016. 

At the beginning of 2017 they went on a European Tour, which also took place in my hometown Hamburg, so I decided to go as they were alo touring with two UK Bands - Moose Blood and Neck Deep - I had been a fan of for a little while now - and what better could there be than seeing three good bands on one concert? Additionally to seeing three amazing bands at once, Charlotte also decided to come to Hamburg for that concert and stay a few days - I hadn't seen her since the last time we followed the nbhd on tour together, so I was even more excited!


3rd of February - truly a day to remember

After a long and exhausting day at school I came home to Charlotte getting ready already. I arrived, packed my things and ate something, since I was still running on empry, due to oversleeping in the morning. When I had all my things packed I changed my clothes, so I could wear a shirt in the venue and wouldn't have to carry around a huge winter jacket and then we left. We bought some food for the queueing and then took the train to get to the venue. My friends were already there when we arrived and my excitement grew even bigger when I saw them, since the last time I saw them was in November.

It was around 3pm when we arrived at the venue and yet there hadn't been a lot of people and it was clear that, if the entrance goes well, we would definitely be front row. I got the wine bottles out of my bags and sat down in front of the barriers with my friends. We didn't have to wait that long and when the doors opened it felt like we had just arrived at the venue. Before the security opened the doors they told us that we wouldn't be allowed to bring in bags, so my entrance took a little longer since I am Type 1 Diabetic and have to carry my bag around. Gladly they understood and when I went inside the venue my friends had saved me a place on the left side of the front row - my happy place.

We were a group of four girls in the front row and nothing could hold our excitement back when the lights went out for the first time and Moose Blood - an UK Emo-/Indie-/Rockband came on stage. I found out about Moose Blood through a friend who introduced me to their music last summer and I never thought that it would only take such a short time until I would see them for the first time. The Band performed eight songs, off their first and second album - like Bukowski and shimmer, two of my favorite Moose Blood songs. Barley anyone around us knew them so it was mostly the four of us in the front row, dancing and singing along to their catchy songs. When the show was over I was kind of sad because I would have loved to see them perform more than just eight songs. They ended their show with Knuckles off their new album called Blush and then the lights went on again. The crew startet changing the set of the stage for the second support act and I got the Moose Blood setlist before we continued waiting for the second support act: Neck Deep.

Neck Deep is a british pop punk band from Wales. The band consists of five guys which formed the second support act of the night. I usually hate shows with two support acts as it makes the waiting for the actual concert even longer, but since I liked both support acts I didn't mind having to wait longer for the actual show to start. Neck Deep played about the same amount of songs as Moose Blood (maybe a few more) and also put on one hell of a show. They were clearly enjoying their time on stage and so were we, once again. This time more people in the crowd seemed to know the band on stage as a few others were dancing and singing along as we were. I had a great time and also didn't want Neck Deep to stop performing when they did, but I got a guitar pick from the guitarist Matt, what cheered me up again and got me excited for ADTR to start their show.

When the setting of the stage was changed it took about 10 more minutes until the lights went out and the crowd started cheering as the band came on stage. This time everyone was able to sing an dance along to the music. ADTR had two huge screens on the left and the right side of the drummer which had different effects for each song, whether it was pictures, old videos of the band or just their name in different fonts. We were right in front of the left screen, so I was alwas able to see what was on it.

The moment the music started and the first guitar was played, everyone freaked out and I was happy to be front row this time instead of having the same place as I had at the BMTH concert in November (link: ). The setlist of A Day To Remember included many new and old songs, what made the concert really diverse and exciting. It was a mix of more metalcore kind of songs and pop punk, emotional kind of songs.

During the concert a lot of people went crowd surfing and big mosh pits appeared behind us so that a lot of people had to get picked out during the whole concert, but I didn't mind as the whole venue seemed to have fun and enjoy the concert to the fullest. It almost felt like a huge party. The band also really enjoyed their time on the stage and made everyone go even crazier. When they played my favorite song of their new album, called We Got This, I couldn't hold myself back any longer. I went up and down and from side to side - threw my arms up in the air when Jeremy sang the lyrics "throw your hands up high, sing it out of tune". I had the time of my life during the concert, whether it was the beginning, the middle of the concert or the end, with confetti in all different kinds of colors flying around the room and on to my face and clothes . It was clearly a blast and the perfect start for the concert year of 2017 - which was also on the same day as my first concert in 2016 (Twenty One Pilots, link:). During the Encore I got another guitr pick and couldn't believe how lucky I was to get something from all three bands. I barley get guitar picks or stuff at concert and now I got something from three bands in a row - I felt blessed.

When the show was over I was clearly able to feel the concert going through my whole body and especially my neck. I was in pain already, but it was a good pain.

As always my friends and I went to the busses to meet some band memebers and even though it took us a few hours we met a few people what made this concert and day truly to a day to remember. We had some talks with some of the artists and it all kind of threw me back to following the nbhd on tour, since I was with Charlotte, talking to crew and band members - short: I was almost back at feeling the happiest I have ever felt.

(First to last picture: 1. Matt West - Neck Deep; 2. Dani Abasi - Neck Deep; 3. Alex Shelnutt - ADTR; 4. Joshua Woodard - ADTR; 5. Neil Westfall - ADTR)