Thank goodness it was a long weekend, because on Monday night, Nick and I headed up to Angel to see Red Jumpsuit Apparatus play at the Carling academy. Angel is a long way from our home in Chiswick and I just don’t know if I could have faced the late-night commute after a day of work!
That’s the first time I’ve been to that venue, and I was surprised to find that it was (a) so tiny! I guessed there would have been less than 500 people there, but it was sold out and apparently the capacity is 800; and (b) so well ventilated! Most venues like that have no airflow and quickly turn into sweat-boxes, but the air-conditioning was absolutely pumping – it was almost too cold in some of the places we were standing!
Like usual, we turned up to the gig only a little before the main act was supposed to come on – however things seemed to be running late and we caught most of the second warm-up band – Sherwood – as well. They were actually pretty good; not only did they remind me a lot of Fall Out Boy, but we got to meet the lead singer and bass player after the show!
Finally Red Jumpsuit came on at 9:30 PM – about an hour late. They were a great live act, mixing up their show with a bit of everything, from their typical hard rock, to a few acoustic numbers, and even a couple of covers (“Hero” by Foo Fighters, and a Beatles song I didn’t know). Unfortunately, there were a few losers in the crowd who insisted on making circles in the mosh pit, but a few discreet punches in the back and they seemed to stay away from me.
Overall it was an awesome gig, especially given its price tag of only £11 (including booking fee!); but as I had suspected the commute home sucked – I wasn’t in bed until close to 1 AM, and it was a school night!
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Islington Academy is way one of my most favourite venues. It’s so intimate and (very) well ventilated as you found out no doubt.
Shame about your commute though.