Wednesday 22/08/07 Hellogoodbye @ Carling Academy, Liverpool

It's been a year since Hellogoodbye graced our shores  supporting Taking Back Sunday and winning over countless fans with their upbeat pop tunes and overly enthusiastic antics that would make a toddler with ADD jacked up on Red Bull look tired. Tonight's Carling Academy gig was sold out and the all age’s crowd was getting ready for an onslaught of good time emo pop, it was just a pity that the band weren’t. Hellogoodbye came on stage with feeble waves and broke into the heartbreak classic ‘Dear Jamie…Sincerely Me’ from their amazing first EP and had the crowd in the palm of their hands within seconds, punching through it even though the sound quality was coming through at an almost farcical quality.

Sadly though, it became immediately apparent that the band weren’t in the best of moods as the cutting short of one of their best songs just before the big instrumental kicked in seemed to rattle and confuse the fans waiting for the big pay off. Hardly acknowledging the crowd, Hellogoodbye flew straight into song after song as if on automatic pilot; Forrest letting the crowd sing the big choruses of ‘All Of Your Love’, rather than humouring the plethora of underage fans desperate to see him perform their favourite song along with ‘All Time Lows’ and the lacklustre rendition of ‘Stuck To You’.

Constantly complaining about the heat and the condensation dripping from the ceiling, it became clear very quickly that the pseudo-nerds were not enjoying the gig; whether it was due to the obvious lack of enthusiasm from the frontman and usually animated keyboard player or the unconvincing shouts of “We’re happy to be here!” something was definitely hindering their performance, and after seeing the band in top form just over a year ago, it was hard to watch them squirm on one of the most humid stages in Liverpool, whilst churning out ‘Call and Return’ and ‘Shimmy Shimmy Quarter Turn’ with almost cringe-worthy effort.

Their saving grace came in the form of ‘Bonnie Taylor Shakedown…2k1’ that seemed to ignite a little passion in the band and get the crowd involved a little more, plus a beautiful rendition of ‘Oh, It Is Love’ that hailed a massive crowd sing-a-long was the highlight of the evening. Ending the night’s gig with their hit ‘Here (In Your Arms)’ that saw the new rave fans and certain undesirable element (namely the chavs) punch their way through the kids to throw some glow sticks around and hurl themselves about as if they were at a dance music warehouse party. They encored with ‘Touchdown Turnaround’ that saw Forrest complain about how the colour in his shirt had bled and saw him spend most of his time off stage shouting at his roadies to come and join him in the spotlight, sadly though there were no pizza costumes or fruit suits to be seen.

Hellogoodbye returned to Liverpool a shadow of their former selves. Without any of the panache or enthusiasm that they have so readily associated themselves with, the 50 minute gig was (for the older fans) hard to watch, leaving the crowd wondering if they had offended the band due to such a short and ill-fated set. We can only hope that if the band makes it through the tour, they'll be on much better form next time.