It had been a year since Defeater’s last headline show at the Rainbow Courtyard, but a cold Monday night see them return in support of their latest release, Abandoned.
Kids Insane from Israel played an impressive set off fast, aggressive hardcore. Very punk-heavy hardcore. The band said thanks to the crowd more than once, and seem to genuinely love doing what the do. It’s a nice start to the night and set the mood for what was to come, as the Courtyard at the Rainbow began to fill up.
Break Even‘s set was heavier, louder, more intense. The band from Australia know how to take command of a set quickly and immediately get the crowd moving around.
Defeater took to the stage to a newly-packed crowd and kicked things off with “Unanswered” – the recent departure of Jay Maas not overly noticeable as the band seemed as tight as ever.
As they made their way though an Abandoned-heavy set, older songs such as “Bastards”, “Empty Glass” and “Dear Father” received the biggest songs of the night.
A nice surprise was a couple of deep cuts from their first record, Travels, with “The City by Dawn” and “The Blues” both getting an airing – but the lack of “Cowardice” to close on and only two songs from Empty Days & Sleepless Nights was definitely noticeable.
Overall, Defeater played a great-set with a new-found energy, definitely helped by the sprinkling in of some different songs, and they seem to be tighter than ever on stage. It was a short set though, a few more “hits” wouldn’t have been amiss.
