Brum Shots

The Institue is alive tonight. It might be a Tuesday (urgh) in February (boooo), but in here it could be the Friday night of a summer festival.

Celebrating it’s 10th anniversary, the band kick things off with ‘Wolf In Sheep’s Clothing.’ But when vocalist Cody Carson only has to sing half of the lyrics himself (the audience prove they are more than capable of holding up their end), it’s clear the sold out crowd mean business!

Strangely, their set is completely lacking in songs from their latest album, 2022’s ‘Elsewhere.’ But the reception their earlier tracks receive prove they still have the backing of their long term fans. Especially when drummer Maxx Danziger hits the front of stage to take lead vocals and for some serious dance moves!

There are two body parts you need to warm up before attending a Set It Off gig. Firstly your shoulders. Prepare to be enouraged to sway and drop your arms repeatedly in time with the beat, and maybe even launch an occasional crowd surfer to the front of the pit. The second is your throat. Unless you want to be the odd one out here, you better know every lyric and be prepared to scream them like to you don’t have a 40-minute presentation to the accounts team at work tomorrow.

Carson tells us towards the end of the set that we’ve taken the ‘best crowd’ title off Manchester. And if they say that to every crowd, I wouldn’t want to hear them without my ear defenders firmly in place.

The set finishes with ‘Punching Bag,’ their first release single going independent from their label. They easily could have added an extra few songs and still maintained the energy, but for now it’s time to say goodnight. For the sake of this dedicated fanbase, I hope they’re back in the UK soon!