We Were Promised Jetpacks

We Were Promised Jetpacks is a band that can hit you with a ton of bricks or take your heart out of your chest and turn it to dust in front of you and you'd still come back for more. The wave of alternative music that's been sweeping in from all around the world and spreading to America is often put to the side for me. However, this now 5 piece band had caught my full attention since 2008. Some may argue that after the first record "These Four Walls" nothing would be equal to that, but after 2012's "In The Pit Of The Stomach", last years "E Rey" a live album released just last year from the Union Transfer venue in Philadelphia (recorded on their 2012 tour, of which I have the pleasure of being an audience member of said show), and this years "Unravelling", these five guys have proven themselves a simply a great band. Having gone to their show just last night (the 21st of November) at Union Transfer (again) and just 8 months ago this year at the Arden Gild Hall near Wilmington, Delaware, We Were Promised Jetpacks continues to astound me with both their records and their live preformances. The records all blast you with new sounds and new feelings and manage to keep it composed so purely and (sorry if this is mushy but,) beautifully. And in any environment, these boys are able to bring new things to each performance and keep you engaged and with the music. The set list is in such a way that all of the tracks present blend clearly and at times softly and close to silently. Fair warning to those planning to come to any future show, when the boys get loud, they get LOUD. On tracks like "Sore Thumb" or "This Is My House, This Is My Home", it starts of almost like an acoustic rendition of a slow rock song, but builds up to a lot more, keeping the stable composure and the soft (or not so soft) yet deadly feel of each of the songs and cranking everything up to 11 and making you a part of this music. While being a part of the music is great and most of the time a pleasure, the only problem I've ever found with most of the many shows I've been too, is the audience. If you're going to the front to admire the accent of the lead vocalist, Adam John Thompson, or hear his guitar harmonize so perfectly with this fellow guitarist Micheal Palmer, beware: there will most likely be heavily intoxicated people present there as well, and if not, they will make their way to where you were trying to stand and start trying to do somewhat of a moshing type motion, yet alone and kind of sad (this does not include people dancing kindly and respectively or people doing little hops and stuff like that which won't disrupt your experience as a witness to the awesome post-punk revival sound that is We Were Promised Jetpacks). The reason I bring this up is to shine light on the drunk man that decided that his time here was more important than mine and thought it perfectly acceptable to push through and nearly push down a 115 pound, skinny, 5'6"15 year old kid and almost ruin my night (Another side note: if you're tall and directly in front of a person shorter than you and you are aware of this shorter, please move to where other tall people are). While this event lasted for the 5th and 4th to last songs in the set as well as the finale and the entire encore, it didn't manage to make me not have a great time. In summary, the power of everything Adam John Thompson does with his voice and guitar, every strum, pick and even hit with a drumstick Micheal Palmer pounds out, every contradictory yet stunning note or chord shown by bassist Sean Charles Smith, every beat that hits the center of your mind that's pushed there by drummer Darren Kenneth Lackie and every keyboard and extra guitar section added by recently added member Suart Micheal McGachan all comes together to create the incredibly unique sound you won't find anywhere else. If you cannot attend a show soon, but any album on iTunes and begin to understand what these guys put out for you. If that isn't your style, so be it, but if it is, I recommend the purchase of the full discography. If you want to actually get the live experience from your own home/laptop/computer/phone, you can purchase the CD called E Rey and/or the movie filmed on location at the Union Transfer to see the power, and as someone who was present for the show, I can vouch for them and say that it shows the mood and volume spoken in the show while being mixed just as masterfully as the studio records. Thank you for your time. I'm Gabriel, and I'm a Jetpack.

Whatever you make of the frankly ridiculous name that they go by, Edinburgh’s We Were Promised Jetpacks have fought their way to prominence the hard way; they formed in 2003, but it took them until 2009 to actually get a record out, in the form of These Four Walls. Once it dropped, though, things began to move a bit quicker for the five-piece - tours on both sides of the Atlantic with Frightened Rabbit and Jimmy Eat World raised their profile, whilst they had songs featured on One Tree Hill and Sons of Anarchy around the same time. In the years since, they’ve released a well-received second record, In the Pit of the Stomach, and toured pretty much relentlessly. Whilst their shows aren’t the most spectacular from a visual point of view, they bring a visceral sense of drama to their songs, particularly ‘It’s Thunder and It’s Lightning’, which opens with a slow-burning instrumental intro and goes on to explode into life at the midpoint. It’s now been three years since they’ve put a record out, meaning another can’t be far away; it’s the one that could make or break them, too, as you can’t help but sense they could cement their place as one of Britain’s most exciting rock bands if they can do themselves justice again.

Absolutely gutted. I bought the ticket and travelled quite a way to come and see WWPJ. I've been a huge fan for years and was so excited to see them. After travelling up for a couple of hours we finally reached the venue and was kicked out shortly after entering. I had not realised that the venue was a strict no under 18s and despite only being a month off 18 and being with two 18 year olds I was not allowed to stay even though the stage was in a separate room to the bar. I tried selling my ticket at the door to at least get some money back but was met by sarcastic and condescending remarks by a man who worked for the venue on the door who then finally told me after waiting out in the cold for 15/20 minutes trying to sell the ticket that I was not allowed to sell on the ticket and he would refuse entry of anyone I sold it too even if I stood there and confirmed it was my ticket and they were taking my place. I'm sure the gig was fantastic and I am gutted I couldn't see them.

That was my first visit to NYC and I was mostly excited about being there.
However, the club `Baby's all Right` came out as a nice place, plenty of strange and bright people, different flavours, mostly positive.
I was a bit late to the start of the concert and probably missed quiet little voices, but all the rest that I heard was absolutely unforgivable.
I took a couple of beers for me and my friends, we cool ourselves down a bit and started singing and dancing to the every song.
It's worth to mention that while WWPJ was singing Thunder&Lightning all the crowd were applauding and singing along! That was an atmosphere that I couldn't even imagine.
And there was a group of funny guys near the scene who made their own moshpit with blackjack and hookers!
But enough words, concert was worth-to-attend, worth-to-see, worth-to-be, and I am glad that I decided to see what's going on in NYC that evening!

Musically, there are good things coming out of Glasgow...and We Were Promised Jetpacks is one of them. These guys are tight and bright, foot-stopping and raucous, melodic and catchy, and noisy - sometimes all within the same song. These lads play modern rock with equal parts noise and beauty - there's no denying the shoegaze, either. It's there, and the music benefits from it.
WWPJ played through a number of new tunes and popular older ones. Their sound is incorporating more electronics, and it made for an interesting and varied live show. The sing-a-longs from the band's first disc are still what get the audience bobbing their heads, and it almost looked like a mosh pit (straight out of 1992) was forming at one point.
Check out their music, and make sure to see them if they come to your town. WWPJ are what modern rock is supposed to be.

12/2/15

Exit/In in Nashville is a simple cool.

Sound was perfect. Who wants frills and crappy sound a show? um, not me.

We Were Promised Jetpacks were blisteringly rocking. They totally seemed focused on playing their guts out, putting all their artistic heart into the effort at that show.

To the folks at Exit/In, thank you, keep doing what you're doing.

To We Were Promised Jetpacks, thank you, pure dead brilliant.

Brilliant show, they're incredible live. It was my fourth time and it never gets old. I don't love their music but the live show is something to be seen.... if you are okay with their music, do yourself a favor and go see them live. Not much chat to the crowd (they never spoke until the last song) and they don't do an encore. What they do is pump up all their songs and give it 110%

We Were Promised Jetpacks puts on one hell of a show. Probably my second favorite concert I have ever been too. I'm pretty sure less than 50 people in the building knew the words to even one of their songs and they still managed to bring the house down. It was great. And their drummer is easily the best I've ever seen.

This was a great show! The band has lots of energy and are wickedly talented! I first heard about them on Last Call w/ Carson Daley and was determined to see them live, so glad I got that chance. I would definitely see another one of their shows. It was a great mix of their new material and seasoned classics.

These guys killed it on stage! They each played with such ferocity, all-in, without holding anything back. The crowd enjoyed every second of them and left you wanting more when it was over. The only bad part is having to wait for them to return again. (;-D)