Devil Sold His Sold have been getting rave reviews everywhere this year, and to be honest, it’s hardly surprising. They pull off progressive hardcore in a way that many other bands try but fail. Singer Ed Gibbs dives round the stage, delivering note perfect harmonies, followed by ear drum piercing screams. What make Devil Sold His Soul stand out is that as well as doing the heavy side of the music well, they have also mastered when and how to fit the quieter/atmospheric side of the music in, matching bands such as Thursday and Underoath.

The band have already announced a headline tour for 2011, and are wwll worth checking out at Norwich Arts Centre on 14th February.

Architects are just epic. From the moment they hit the stage, to the moment they leave, it’s just a sea of bodies. Each band member covers every inch of the stage, 5 crowd surfers a minute pile off the barriers, non stop for an hour. Despite all the movement, you can’t help but being in awe of the technical ability of the band. Architects do Hardcore better than any other UK band around at the moment.

Whilst the band impress on stage, the 500 strong audience sing along to every word of every song. Despite packing venues and gaining fans all over the world, the band are still humble. Singer Sam Carter declares that the band aren’t rock stars, and that they really appreciate every person in the room for helping them be where they are. Now, a lot of bands say this, but the difference is, you believe Sam actually means it.

Whilst melodic pieces are thrown in, it’s the heavier parts that Architects excess at. The few new songs played from forthcoming album The Here And Now (out early 2011) suggest the album could be one of the best of 2011.

Second night in a row for us at Thetford Forest (following Scouting For Girls and Diana Vickers), and this night was even more pop orientated. Pop music is a bit out of our comfort zone, but having already seen and enjoyed The Saturdays last year, we were looking forward to seeing them again.

First up were The Wanted, a new boy band. Having only previously heard their upcoming debut single ‘All Time Low’ I didn’t have high hopes for The Wanted, but was actually surprised by the strength of their vocals and overall perfromance. As expected the band went down really well with the young and mainly female audience. The Wanted have much stronger songs than All Time Low, which makes it (for me anyway) an odd choice for their introduction to the world. Expect this band to be massive by the end of the year, as they have the songs to match other boy bands like JLS.

The Wanted at Thetford Forest, July 2010 – Images by Jon Luton

Last time I saw The Saturdays back in June 2009, Vanessa had injured her ankle earlier in the tour and was reduced to sitting on a stool for the whole of the set, whilst the other girls danced around the stage. This time Mollie had a skin infection (they don’t seem to have much luck), and therefore The Saturdays were down to four members.

Although the band were on a big outdoor stage, the girls had a much smaller production than last year (click here for pictures from that gig), and I think many of the audience would have loved to have seen a full on produced show (although as this is one of many one off shows, this wouldn’t have been possible). The despite he crowd being much smaller in number than the previous nights Scouting For Girls concert, it was a great show for The Saturdays to do, allowing them to perform in front of a much younger audience than the one that could have seen them on last years tour, and I’m guessing this was many kids first ever show, and the whole crowd loved them.

The Saturdays are one of the hardest working pop bands out there, this time last year they were still promoting their debut album ‘Chasing Lights’ but since then they have released second album ‘Wordshaker’ at the end of last year, and had time to record a new album ‘Headlines’ which is due to released in August. Having three albums worth of material has also benefited the girls, with them having a more varied set.

Despite there only being four of them, it was still a good performance, these girls can really sing. Stand out tracks are ‘Up’ and ‘Forever Is Over’ as well as new single ‘Missing You’.

Thetford Forest is full, with 7,000 eager fans waiting to see Scouting For Girls and Diana Vickers perform. A lovely setting for a summer gig, thanks to the surroundings and nice weather.

First up is Diana Vickers, who we last saw back in May at Norwich Waterfront. With only one album behind her, a 30 minute set suits Diana best allowing her to showcase the best songs from her debut album ‘Songs From The Tainted Cherry Tree’. Apart from the singles ‘The Boy Who Murdered Love’ and ‘Once’ stand out track is ‘You’ll Never Get To Heaven’ which is three minutes of pop heaven and surely has to be a single later in the year.

The thing that separates Diana Vickers and other pop stars is her energy. She is a ball of energy, who never stops jumping, bouncing and dancing round the stage, and despite this never misses a note. For such a young performer she is outstanding. A must see live.

Having not been a fan of Scouting For Girls I was quite surprised by their performance. They are a really tight band live, whilst at the same time there’s more power to their songs than on record.

Singer Roy Stride is a better frontman than I could have imagined, only playing keyboards for part of the songs allows him the freedom to jump and run around the stage, engaging the fans, and give life to the performance.

During the 80 minute set the band play all the hits; Heartbeat, Elvis Ain’t Dead, It’s Not About You, recent number one This Ain’t A Love Song and closing the show with She’s So Lovely, they even throw in a cover of Live And Let Die. Perfect for a big outdoor concert, with almost every member of the 7,000 strong audience singing along to every word.

With each new album Bloc Party have been getting progressively more dance orientated, so it was no surprise when singer Kele released an album full of dance tunes in June, entitled ‘The Boxer’. With only a few weeks touring behind them it was interesting to see Kele and backing band pull off an entertaining show.

The first thing you notice about Kele is his passion for the music along with his energy. For just over an hour Kele dances round every inch of the stage, seeming to enjoy the freedom of not having to play guitar for the majority of the set.

Most of the set is filled with songs from ‘The Boxer’ with stand out tracks being set opener Walk Tall and recent single Tenderoni. In an attempt to keep the Bloc Party fans happy, they do a medley of Bloc Party songs, based around a dance groove, which doesn’t completely work, but satisfies enough of the crowd. Overall a good set, which is well received by the crowd. The show ends with an outstanding version of Flux.

Bouncing onstage like a ball of energy, Diana Vickers kicks off with new single ‘The Boy Who Murdered Love’. For the next 55 minutes Diana holds centre stage at the Waterfront, with backing band pushed as far to the back and sides of the stage, allowing her to jump around, endlessly playing and ruffling her hair.

You have to give Diana Vickers credit, whilst most people have been on X Factor have stuck to the tried and tested X Factor path, Diana disappeared straight after X Factor to work on her album, only coming out to appear in a play last year. She worked on creating something with more substance than the usual pop rubbish. The songs are edgy and quirky.

Her performance is almost perfect, never missing a note. She interacts well with the audience, able to relate to them, as the audience is pretty much all the same age as her or younger. Stand out songs were number one single ‘Once’ and her cover of Snow Patrols ‘Just say Yes’ a song which was written for her, but then Gary Lightbody decided to take it back to use for Snow Patrols new album.

The only disappointment is her set lasts only 55 minutes, which seems very short considering the £12 ticket price.

In Case Of Fire

Tonight is the final night of In Case Of Fire’s UK headline tour. The last night of six solid weeks of touring (three with Fightstar and three on their own). During these six weeks, the bands confidence has grown and grown, spured on by the release of their debut album and having fans sing the words back at them.

Whilst the band always had the songs, sometimes the delivery wasn’t there, however their new found confidence has pushed their live performance to new levels. From the moment they step on stage, dressed in matching uniforms as always, the band launches themselves into an energetic and aggressive set. Enemies has never sounded so hateful and aggressive. Playing to a packed room and the crowds reactions also pushes the band. Their usual introverted and concetrated look is out of the window at times, as drummer Colin can’t help but smile at the crowd.

The band play the longest set of the tour throwing in the odd B Side. But where they really shine is with songs such as Violence and Pictures, and Align The Planets as rhymic verses lead into heavy rock out, where singer/guitarist Steve Richardson and bassist Mark Williamson throw themselves and their instruments around the small stage. Whilst six months ago they would be fairly static onstage, the band now throw themselves away, engrossed in their music and enjoying themselves.

The band end the set with Plan A followed by album closer Second Revelation, this is when the real aggression comes out, unhappy with his guitar detuning due to the heat Steven throws it round, before dropping it down on the floor, in the process breaking the headstock.

With sets like this In Case Of Fire will have no problem winning new fans during the festival season.