We Are The Ocean

By Megan Walker

We Are The Ocean have gone from ‘strength to strength’ over the last year playing a variety of venues and cities, creating a large new fan base both in the UK and world wide.

On the 13th October, We Are The Ocean played Room One, (‘the big room’ as it’s commonly known as to the locals) of The Cockpit in Leeds. It was the bands first time at the venue and they played to a sold out crowd, who were all eagerly awaiting their return, after they last played Leeds at the Slam Dunk Festival in May earlier this year.

The 5-piece post-hardcore band who are from Harlow came on to the stage one by one to an interlude and were welcomed by the Leeds crowd with the traditional ‘Yorkshire, Yorkshire’ chant. The band launched straight in to ‘Look Alive’, followed by ‘Don’t Be Careless’. The crowd particularly enjoyed hearing the old and more commonly known songs from the bands self-titled EP made in 2008.

After introducing themselves the band really kicked off the night by commenting on the liveliness of the Leeds crowd, which only seemed to encourage the crowd to cheer and up their game. Just two songs into the bands set and it was noticeably evident that front man, Dan Brown constantly moved around stage screaming and encouraging the crowd to sing along, something which the front section did enthusiastically to engage the others in the crowd. The other four members however, were slightly disappointing in their contribution of speech and movement.

The band played a variety of new songs from their album “Cutting Our Teeth”, released in February 2010; which a majority of the audience seemed to recognise. After a good hour set , including lots of cheering, crowd surfing and insane mosh pits the band exited the stage for their encore. The band did lack older songs in their set, yet most older fans doubted they would hear them anyway. The crowd began to chant ‘we want more!’ and We Are The Ocean appeared back on to the stage and sang their well-known song from the new album ‘Confessions’, to which the crowd participated greatly and sang along with the boys, who again commented crowds incredibly good energy and remarked that the gig was ‘one of the best shows they’d ever played’.

The band finalised their Cockpit set with arguably their most famous song ‘Nothing Good Has Happened Yet’. Dan Brown insisted everyone in the room ‘got down on the floor and jumped when the bass kicked in’, imitating as the band said, a classic ‘Slipknot gig’.

We Are The Ocean left the crowd eager for more and it seems from the crowds reaction they would certainly have a welcomed return to Leeds.