REVIEW: You Me at Six @ Brighton Music Hall 2/21

By Jarrad Levy

On Thursday, February 21st, You Me at Six began the next leg of their current tour promoting their new album, IV.

It is rare to see an artist with such energy as the singer of You Me at Six, Josh Franceschi. Throughout the entire show, he danced, sang, and performed not to the crowd, but with the crowd. The little dances he did and extra inflections he added to the songs really made it seem like he was having fun while helping others have fun. He even mentioned toward the end of the show something that many bands and artists seem not to realize: an artist’s job is not to make art, but instead to make others enjoy themselves – and Franceschi certainly did his job.

The show centered around much of You Me at Six’s latest album, with eight of their 18 songs being from the record. This is a perfect balance as the band once again avoids a pitfall that so many artists fall victim to: creating a crowd pleasing setlist. Oftentimes artists fill their shows with too many of their hits or new music, leading to the crowd missing much of what attracted them to the show in the first place. Generally, if someone is paying money to see a concert, they are more than familiar with the band and the band’s music, and thus want to hear songs that are not overplayed due to their success or recency. You Me at Six absolutely played new and popular songs, but had a setlist so varied that less popular songs were played in tandem with the radio hits.

Highlights of the show were the invigorating opener, “Fast Forward,” the older favorite, “Loverboy,” and the groovy “3AM.” The band also included their biggest hits like the gritty “Bite My Tongue” and the anthemic “Underdog.” The only song that felt out of place during the set was “Take on the World,” as it was the only mellow song they played and was sandwiched in between the aforementioned and dance worthy, “3AM” and the similarly exciting “I O U.” The song brought the crowd down and there was no recovery until “Bite My Tongue” was played at the end of the main set.

Overall, You Me at Six put on a very unique show in the best way. Not only did Franceschi work the crowd perfectly, but the band was masterful at crafting a setlist that was pleasing for all fans of the band: hardcore, new, and passive alike. The show was energetic, exciting, and enthralling, and if given the chance check out a band that truly seems to love the music they play.