17/03/2012 | Young Guns – The Corn Exchange, Edinburgh

The queue winding around the Corn Exchange on a Saturday night wasn’t short, with people waiting excitedly and impatiently to be let into the venue, eager to get the show started. The upbeat drum of the first live act, Tek One, was already blaring through the walls of the building, and it wouldn’t be long before Young Guns would be hitting the stage. This was the first show of their short UK tour with Enter Shikari, which will fortunately be bringing more recognition to the uprising alternative rock group.

There were already a number of people in the crowd sporting Young Guns wristbands or t-shirts, here deliberately for the five-piece.The transition between the two supports saw a number of people leaving the crowd and others taking their place, the difference in dedication from fans being obvious. I took this opportunity to get a better view of the stage and prepared myself for what was to come, not really knowing what to expect from a live performance. The group from High-Wycombe and London have released their latest album Bones only a month ago; it’s already been receiving a great response, having reached #2 on the UK Rock charts, surpassing their previous record All Our Kings Are Dead which only made it to #3.

The green and blue lights flashed frantically around the room, when the energetic collaboration of Fraser Taylor (guitar), John Taylor (guitar), Simon Mitchell (bass) and Ben Jolliffe (drums) burst through the speakers. Their music was powerful and atmospheric, something that seemed to come across more during the performance than on the studio album. Their lyrics contain epic feelings of bravery, a word Young Guns have used to describe themselves, and people truly relate to that. It’s not just the themes their songs deal with, but also the step up they’ve taken with Bones. While still remaining dance-able, the tracks were heavy, pounding and vocally-driven.

They played a number of popular songs throughout their set, the title track Bones having to be the most interactive song of the night, with the crowd singing back at lead singer, Gustav Wood. If you have the opportunity to catch Young Guns on their tour with Enter Shikari this month for a few dates in England, this is definitely an experience you won’t want to miss out on.

www.weareyoungguns.com