Its Thursday, February 1st. The city of Philadelphia is buzzing with excitement over the impending Super Bowl game. And the crowd in the Electric Factory is no different. Packed together tighter than a can of sardines, the crowd chants “Fuck Tom Brady” while humming with anticipation of the white curtain on stage dropping to reveal the main act. Suddenly the lights go dim, the curtain drops, and the crowd goes wild. Neck Deep takes the stage as the opening notes to their hit song Happy Judgement Day fills the concert hall. Smoke is released on stage and the crowd goes wild, surging forward and moshing as they scream along to the song lyrics.
Neck Deep is a Welsh pop punk band from Wrexham. Members include Ben Barlow (lead vocals), Fil Thorpe-Evans (Bass, backing vocals), Dani Washington (Drums), Matt West (Rhythm guitar), and Sam Bowden (Lead guitar, backing vocals). There sound is similar to pop punk legends such as Blink-182, New Found Glory, and Green Day. Barlow has been quoted saying A Day to Remember, Fall Out Boy, and Sum 41 have been sources of inspiration for the band. In 2017 Neck Deep won the award for Best British Band and the Rock Sound Awards.
During their headlining concert at the Electric Factory the band performed songs from their two most recent albums Life’s Not Out to Get You and The Peace and Panic. After opening the show with Happy Judgement Day they went on to play fan favorites like Lime St., Motion Sickness, What Did You Expect?, Kali Ma, The Grand Delusion, Citizens of Earth, Don’t Wait, Parachute, and In Bloom. Lead singer Ben Barlow introduced In Bloom by explaining that it was one of the most deep and meaningful songs they had ever written. In Bloom, a song about learning to take time apart and grow as a person, is one of the band’s most intimate songs. It features lyrics that are not only relatable and poignant, but evoke a sense of mature personal development that the pop punk genre sometimes lacks.
Neck Deep brings hard hitting truths about the human condition to the fast and loud sound of pop punk. They create such a harmonious marriage between their lyrics and music, it’s no surprise the crowds go wild at every concert.
