It’s not usual for fans of bands having to wait 10 years for a group to go to the UK to do a tour but that is the cold hard facts in which how long UK fans of Marianas Trench had to wait.
The Canadian band who have released 4 albums made their UK debut in Glasgow at the beginning of the month and since then have done a few more round the Uk including Cardiff and Manchester finishing off Their UK leg of the tour in Islington at the 02 Academy.

Marianas had a lot to prove to the UK for leaving it this long – the show, singing and performance were all the main areas everyone was expecting to be as great as their studio albums and live videos that fans have watched on YouTube.
The venue was sold out and the group did not have a support act which meant that they were on stage just after 8. The first three songs they played were from their most recent album Astoria and didn’t talk tot the audience until they had played them all with lighting and smoke that went well with the music.

When they did talk to the audience you could tell that they were all shocked that they had a massive fan base out side of Canada and in Europe and in some ways you can understand why. Their music has never been released over here, none of the music publications in this country ever mention them and there has never been any publicizing of them – even for this tour there was hardly any content written or advertised about them.

The music throughout the night was a mix of songs from different albums and songs that are album tracks and are not Canadian singles because most fans in this country have come across them and listened to all their music not just the ones they release.

The energy through the whole show was extremely high and very energetic the audience were singing along to all songs and dancing to the music and the band were really giving it their all.

The lead singer Josh Ramsey pointed out early on in the gig that he had a cold and for a person with such a powerful voice it was amazing that even though he didn’t feel a 100% and he said his voice wasn’t perfect he still aced it and really gave every song his all reaching all the high notes and holding them for as long as he dos in the songs, which in some cases is very long.

I have seen other bands perform and make excuses that were a lot less reasonable then this and really mess up their show and become ‘lazy’ and not bother to keep the fans entertained and make it about them but no matter how ill he was feeling he didn’t let it show and really gave it his all. Whether this was to prove to the fans that have waited ten years that they were worth the wait or that he is a professional and just lives by the theory the show must go on we will never know, but he did miss one song out of the setlist near the end called Who Do You Love as  it has a lot of high notes and he knew he wouldn’t be able to reach them.

Whilst Josh has an amazing voice that should really be somewhere like the west end as well as in  the music scene, the show would not be the show it was without Matt Webb and Mike Ayley singing as well. As we mentioned in the album review in October of 2015 of Astoria (read it here) Marianas albums are not like any other album you have heard – their music is like a cinematic or theatre experience and take you on a story and having Matt and Mike there to do vocals as well as Josh really enhances the live experience and allows them create musical experiences that other bands would not be brave enough to do live.

As a debut show to the UK, Marianas Trench really kicked it completely out of the bag and really brought their A game when it came to performing. You could tell in their eyes throughout the show that they couldn’t get over the fact that all their dates in the UK had sold out. I think the thing that is a shame is that rock magazines such as Kerrang! have not picked up on the talents of this band and are too busy putting pop bands on their front covers like Five Seconds Of Summer.

This is one band that really needs to gain the publicity and recognition it deserves in this country as there is no other band like them. Unlike other bands, each of their albums do change musically and are entirely stand alone and maybe thats one reason why they may of not been publizicsed a lot over here as to it may beg the question where do you put a band like that into.

No matter how advertised they do or do not become in the UK i highly recommend to each and every one of you to sit down listen to their albums the whole way through and experience the adventure that Josh Ramsey and the gang take you on. It is really clear to see why they really are huge across the whole of Canada and America.