Neck Deep - 10 Years of "Life's Not Out To Get You" in Birmingham

Christmas party season is well and truly in full swing, but you'd be hard-pressed to find a better party to be at than a slamming night of pop-punk at the O2 Institute in Birmingham on Thursday night with Anxious, Boston Manor, and Neck Deep providing the entertainment for the night.

First act out on the night were Connecticut five-piece Anxious. With a frantic sound engineer still running about on the stage 10 minutes after the published start time to their set, there is some form of an explanation as to why the bands sound was somewhat iffy to begin with. But to give them credit, the energy was high and the vibes were immaculate, that come the final track of a blistering 5 track set, "Growing Up Song" (Little Green House, 2022), charismatic frontman Grady Allen had well and truly won the Birmingham crowd over. Shaking off any issues from the start, by the end not only were the band super tight, they sounded really well-polished.

The highlight of the set may have been newest track "Counting Sheep" from 2025's "Bambi," a floatingly chuggy romp, if such a juxtaposition in vibes can be made.

The middle of the bill was taken up by Blackpool's own Boston Manor, where as the opening band were mostly an unknown to the crowd, we all know what Boston Manor are about, and the whole night is about to be taken up by a considerable number of notches.

It was all about the most recent album, 2024's "Sundiver," to kick off the set with a five-track run of "HEAT ME UP", "Container", "Sliding Doors", "Why I Sleep", and "Morning Star".

"I Don't Like People (& They Don't Like Me)" from the 2021 EP "Desperate Times, Desperate Pleasures" followed.

The band are phenomenally tight and although, from our vantage point at least, the crowd are giving a respectful amount of beans, this is not enough for vocalist Henry Cox. Acknowledging that tonight is the smallest cap venue of the whole tour commenting "I say this for your benefit, so far this is the weakest show of the tour by a country mile, I see the hunger out there though, get involved, I need all of the crowd surfers." To be fair to the Birmingham crowd, they seemed to take that personally, and as the band played "Halo" (from "Welcome to the Neighbourhood" 2018), to prove a point fulfilled Cox's request, giving the security staff at the barrier a real workout, suitably warming them up for what we would witness a little later in the night.

A trio from 2022's "Datura" would punctuate the set, firstly "Crocus" was followed by "Passenger" before arguably saving the best for last, the certified banger "Foxglove" ("Datura", 2022) closing out the set, undeniably the crowd are well and truly warmed up.

Headlining a venue that is definitely too small for the band that they are now, but seemingly in an attempt to capture some of that same energy of who they were 10 years ago; Neck Deep emerge ready to smack the Birmingham crowd right in the face as they play 2015's "Life's Not Out To Get You" in its entirety.

Right from the starters pistol, it is absolute pandemonium inside the O2 Institute, with a maelstrom of bodies in the pit and a constant flow of limbs over the barrier, all of which are met by a blur as the lads from Wrexham go absolutely ham on stage. If anyone thought that any collective energy had been spent during Boston Manor, then they were very much mistaken.

Such is the ferocity on stage, that by the time we get to the end of a 2-stepping heavy track number four "Lime St.", an emergency snare swap is required as drummer Matt Powles has burst clean through the skin on his.

The front end of the set has a lot of the "Life's Not Out To Get You" heavy hitters: "Citizens Of Earth" into "Threat Level Midnight" into "Gold Steps" into "Lime St." into "Smooth Seas Don't Make Good Sailors".

Chanting from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom precedes "Kali Ma", before "Serpents", "The Beach Is For Lovers (Not Lonely Losers)", and "I Hope This Comes Back To Haunt You".

Frontman Ben Barlow mentioned that the next track was written with the help of producer Andrew Wade and Jeremy McKinnon of A Day To Remember, and its to them we have to thank for the ripping bass solo that was about to be crushed by Seb Barlow; "Rock Bottom" is followed by chants from the crowd of "Fuck Neck Deep, Fuck Neck Deep, Fuck Neck Deep", how rude.

"Can't Kick Up The Roots" went out to anyone from a shitty small town. "We're proud to be from a shit hole in north Wales, but its our shit hole...in the least reform way possible, if you are proud of where you are from get off your feet."

For all (especially British) pop-punk fans of a certain age, there is something really special in getting to hear "December" in December. "We wrote a Christmas song and we didn't even know it...fuck it I'll be your pariah."

The main purpose of tonight was to celebrate 10 years of "Life's Not Out To Get You", arguably the album that really put Neck Deep on the map, the night wouldn't be complete without a little greatest hits; Barlow tells the crowd that "although this was an important record for us, we kept it moving, kept it in motion"; queue up "Motion Sickness" ("The Peace And The Panic", 2017), as the "Life's Not Out To Get You" backdrop gives was to 'Neck Deep Generic Pop Punk', I'm not quite sure how, but both bands and fans manage to reach another gear as a now shirtless Barlow launches himself off of the barrier into the crowd.

Composure regained somewhat a brief introduction to the deepest of cuts, (according to Barlow) the first song that the band ever wrote. "What Did You Expect" ("Rain In July", 2012).

A brief pause allows Barlow to thank the crowd, not just for tonight but for the last 15 years; "If you'll allow me, this is pop-punk, its gona get a bit political...if you stand for nothing then you'll fall for anything...punk will always be political, if you're not then you're just a ripped jeans poser...the world, the ruling class have got us divided, divided on where we're from, divided on the colour of our skin, divided on who you want to fuck, but what its all about is unity, right...stop believing in all these fucks, believe in yourselves, believe in each other, we are stronger together than we are divided, don't let these parasites win...You don't have to listen to what I have to say, I'm just a moron with a microphone and a big mouth...I don't know much, but what I do know is that when it all goes down we're gona need more punks...and we're gona need more BRICKS!!" Not only is "We Need More Bricks" ("Neck Deep", 2024) greeted with gusto from the crowd, but the biggest pit of the night opens up. "Free Palestine...Fuck Nigel Farage."

Newest single "You Should See Me Now" (2025) brings the Birmingham crowd back down off of the boil slightly, a gentle, melancholic simmer to save everyone's energy for the big finish: 2022's single, "STFU".

Carnage well and truly wrought, the band exit the stage before the inevitable encore, sadly this reviewer had the last train of the night to race off and catch, so missed what we understand was "In Bloom" ("The Peace And The Panic", 2017) and what would have been the most cathartic ending to the night.