Former My Chemical Romance guitarist Frank Iero and his solo project The Patience have commenced on their September UK tour and last night at Concorde 2 kicked things off in authentic rock and roll style. Tonight’s show is sweaty, punchy and new wave punk-rock at its very pinnacle.

Opening tonight are a series of top DIY American talents, PACESHIFTERS open and bring an initial thrash of metal with kicking riffs and put a strong supply of angst into the room. For a threepiece, their sound is huge and every riff makes you want to headbang until you pass out, these are definitely a talent worth looking up. Up next is The Homeless Gospel Choir (Derek Zanetti) who brings a delightfully surprising satirical acoustic set that is typically uncommon at these kinds of shows. Derek is a brilliant frontman and has the crowd eating out of his hand by the time his set is underway. His songs dance around themes of not being able to find your place within society, something that many in attendance clearly relate to as many have come down specifically for his set tonight. The final and main support for this evening is Dave Hause and The Mermaid and, as always, these guys absolutely smashed their set. Their sound is big, their riffs are bigger and Dave’s vocal range and passionate style of stage performing is beyond staggering! I genuinely feel that Dave Haus and The Mermaid are a name that we’ll be seeing in the mainstream soon as these guys are simply too good to ignore.

With the room fully warmed up, Frank Iero & The Patience enter the stage under a dense cloud of incense smoke to a deafening applause. Despite tonight not being a sell out, the crowd are more than eager to share their enthusiasm and more than compensate for the empty tickets. The band open with ‘World Destroyer’ and ‘Neverenders’, letting out a cataclysmic entity of sound as they proceed to throw themselves across the stage. Frank’s vocals hold such a strong, passionate, coarseness to them that they really work well with the overall fuzz of the band’s various pedals and hard hitting riffs to create one of the biggest sounds Concorde 2 has ever seen.

It becomes immediately clear that Frank has more than moved on from the days of My Chemical Romance and, despite a few in the room wearing the old band’s T-shirts, Frank’s new sound is purely unique. It is always tough for artists to start solo projects without showing reflections into their past, however, Frank has more than created something that feels incredibly personal and a genuine part of himself, adding a really captivating and individualised feel to his music. It is clear from his passionate performing, and the grin on his face, that this is a new chapter in Frank’s career which he can’t wait to get underway.

The newer material from the band’s latest record Keep the Coffins Coming is met with an immense level of enthusiasm from the crowd, the tracks hold an inherent darkness to them which delves far into the most sinister aspects of human psychology, the end result being truly colossal. Equally, the instrumentals behind the entire set are sublime, the guitar riffs in particular are utter masterpieces in themselves and ‘Helter Skelter’ made for a particular highlight to the latter part of the set. The track embodies Frank’s new sound in it’s entirety, a bouncy heavy riff which spirals out of control whilst the delightfully raspy vocals keep the passion flowing. Frank’s unique style of screaming is fantastic, holding a higher pitch whilst maintaining the darkness to the overall sound, the crowd are unable to contain themselves and a few further mosh pits begin to open up whilst not giving up a moment to keep chanting the lyrics back at the band.

An encore of ‘Joyriding’ and ‘Oceans’ make for a fantastic ending to the evening and Frank gives his final thanks to the audience for giving him the chance to continue performing and their ongoing support. The final climax of sound is phenomenal and sees the entire room letting out one final flurry of energy before leaving with clear smiles all around.

Overall, Frank Iero & The Patience are an incredible success, for older fans of My Chemical Romance, you’ll still find the passion and intensity that Frank’s guitar was known for, however, in the spotlight he has been able to demonstrate a countless number of new talents that will also blow you away. Likewise for those who have never heard of Frank, now is the ideal time to get on board as Frank Iero & The Patience are a name that will be hitting the big time before you know it.

Ben Walker

Website: frank-iero.com
Facebook: facebook.com/frankieromusic
Twitter: twitter.com/frankiero