Man Overboard
Playing to an early crowd on the sunny Sunday of Hevy Fest, rising pop-punkers Man Overboard keep energy flowing with their brilliantly honest anthems. Last year's debut album 'Real Talk' put strong support behind their 'defend pop-punk' motto and songs like the early Brand New channelling 'Septemberism' and 'Fantasy Girl' go down a storm in the warm rays, benefiting highly from the dual-vocals of Nik Bruzzese and Zac Eiestenstein and their three-guitar wall.
Admittedly the crowd is still sparse at this early point in the day but sing-a-longs can still be heard down the front and the band look over the moon to be here. The closing rocked-up version of the astonishing normally acoustic-based 'Love Your Friends, Die Laughing', without a doubt the band's best song to date, ends their short set on a sky high and suggests that this could be the start of something rather special indeed, with their new self-titled album due next month it's obvious that this band means business.
A great start to the final day of the festival and a reminder that pop-punk is back to its healthy best in 2011 with Man Overboard comfortably among the most exciting bands it currently has to offer.