Lost Prophets - Hammersmith Apollo Wednesday 17th November 2004 reviewed by Cars

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I actually booked tickets for this gig to see the support act Headautomatica so imagine my dismay when they cancelled a fortnight ago. Whilst I have both Lost Prophets albums & do like them they're not a band I would have paid to see. I tried not to let it tarnish my evening & tried to let some of the enthusiasm of the 2 Lost Prophets fans rub off on me rather than join in the misery of the Headautomatica fan also with us, though she looked like I felt - pretty miserable! I don't blame her - she can't stand Lost Prophets! The first support act were already onstage when we got in so thankfully we only had to endure half of their set. They were called Hondo Maclean & were appalling. The singer screamed permantely before trying to get the audience to chant swear words back at him. When he got to c*** they didn't really need much encouragment - I'm sure most people wanted to chant that at him way before he asked them to. Next up was Eighteen Visions. A band I'd not heard before but that certainly perked up the disappointed Headautomatica fan next to me - woo! They were pretty good, maybe a bit too heavy for me in places but I enjoyed their set & will give their new album a go. If I had a hat I would have taken it off to the Lost Prophets with their entrance onstage. It was one of the best I'd ever seen. They had the back drop of their Start Something album cover & singer Ian was stood in the same position as the boy on the sleeve. Lights flashing & music pumping it really was a brilliant sight. They did a good set sticking mainly to the newer material & didn't let up once. The image I've always had of Lost Prophets were they are a poor mans Linkin Park, their songs are never quite as good & their connection with the audience never quite as sincere. Judging by the adoration of the crowd I could be wrong about the latter. However, the fact that Ian is as Welsh as a leek yet insisted on talking to the crowd in an American accent did grate on me a bit! They do have a reputation of being up themselves & he didn't do much in my book to dispel that. Though, just as I was thinking that he announced they weren't big enough to do encores & that only Metallica are big enough for that. That made me see them as a bit stupid rather than humble but maybe I'm just picky! Highlights were songs from the first album Shinobi Vs Dragon Ninja & title track The Fake Sound Of Progress, aswell as the brilliant single Last Train Home, Last Summer, show closer Burn Burn & big crowd pleaser Make A Move. I enjoyed it more than I thought & whilst I may not choose to see them again they're a good live band with a great fan base so all respect to them for that. SETLIST: To Hell We Ride Godzilla Shinobi Vs Dragon Ninja Make A Move Goodbye Tonight I Don't Know Hello Again Sway Last Summer We Still Kill Fake Sound Of Progress Last Train Start Something Burn Burn 7 out of 10

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