And So I Watch You From Afar have toiled the length and breadth of the land for years, their live shows the stuff of legend and that journey has seen them ascend the scale of  venues to play.

Their shows have always been known for the wild unbridled energy and being in unison with their fans, often finding the band thrashing around amongst the crowd. In support of their latest album ‘Heirs’ it seen them play their biggest shows to date in the grand settings of The Olympia Theatre.

There was never any doubt that they would be able fill the confines of The Olympia with their vast post rock riffs but there were doubts if ASIWYFA would be able to maintain that connection with the fans that they’ve built up over the years in smaller more intimate venues. That was duly answered with a rousing set, played at breakneck pace. Even later in the set  guitarist Rory Friers decided that tradition wasn’t going to be broken and descended into crowd for some mayhem.

There was no fat in this set, no time to scratch your arse as ASIWYFA had been calibrated to warp speed bustling through Run Home, Wasps and BEAUTIFULUNIVERSEMASTERCHAMPION. Rory Friers was a Tasmanian devil in constant furious motion whose primary task seemed to be how hard he could push Chris Wee on drums, something Wee was well up to the task of. The measured 7 Billion People All Alive at Once is the closest thing ASIWYFA do for a pause to catch a breath.

The set is littered with anthemic tunes with A Beacon, A Compass, An Anchor in particular sounding gargantuan.  ‘Heirs’ has heralded in a change for ASIWYFA with more vocals being added that they previously had explored and These Secret Kings I Know seen Rory Friers’ brother Ewen and Ben Bix from support act Meltybrains? join ASIWYFA for extra vocal support.

This gig clearly meant a lot to the lads in ASIWYFA, and towards the end of the gig Rory Friers thanked the crowd for coming and supporting them, this was no mere lip service of having to say a few words for the sake of it. This gig was the culmination of sheer hard graft, trekking over the globe gradually building their profile bigger.

ASIWYFA announced that this stage is where they belong with a blistering performance to match.