Tonight is the Kerrang! Tour 2012, an annual package tour put together by the people at Kerrang. Originally booked to feature co-headliners, Sum 41 and New Found Glory. Booking this two headliners obviously would attract a crowd of people in pop punk from the early 2000′s, when both Sum 41 and New Found Glory had major mainstream success. I’d already caught Sum 41 (twice) and New Found Glory at this venue on their own headline tours in the past. So the chance to catch both together couldn’t be missed, however it was Sum 41 who really sold me the ticket.

That’s why I was dissapointed to hear the news that due to frontman, Deryck Whibley, suffering an injury, Sum 41 had pulled out of the tour. Their replacement, although somewhat controversial, was The Blackout. This was only controversial due to the crowd attracted by Sum 41 and New Found Glory, not generally being the crowd which would go and watch The Blackout.

For me, I wasn’t too dissapointed, because I’ve recently got into The Blackout and had wanted to see them live, after all we could have got somebody I didn’t particularly like, and given I’m not too fussed about New Found Glory, it could have been a wasted night. Now according to my live list of bands I’ve seen live, I’ve already seen The Blackout three times. I had to check my records however to find out when. I did remember them supporting lostprophets in this venue a number of years ago, but it had slipped my mind, that I’d seen them twice at Download Festivals gone by, obviously not that taken by them.

But, like I said, I’ve recently gotten into them, so unlike a number of people in the crowd, I was happy to see them. They did have to fight through some hate from the crowd, but did take the challenge on and you must respect them for that. They even through in a cover of Sum 41 hit ‘Fat Lip’ in good humour. They ended their set with four hit singles ‘The Storm’, ‘Children Of The Night’, ‘Save Our Selves (The Warning)’ and ‘Higher & Higher’, and left me wanting to see them again, in home territory as it were, at there own gig.

The two bands that preceeded The Blackout, really did nothing for me, so I will leave it there as far the letlive and While She Sleeps are concerned. I move on then to tonights headliner, New Found Glory. I think the most telling thing I can say about them is that, other than massive hit ‘My Friends Over You’, my three favourite songs of the set, were covers. New Found Glory giving their twist to Green Day’s ‘Basket Case’, The Ramones’ ‘ Blitzkreig Bop’ and Sixpence None The Richer’s smash hit ‘Kiss Me’.

This surely doesn’t say too much for the New Found Glory back catalogue. Although ‘Hit Or Miss’ and ‘Head On Collison’ are noteworthy, the rest of the set again just doesn’t do it for me. Would I see them again, not unless they were billed with a Sum 41 of the world!