THIS FEELING 'BIG IN 2017', NAMBUCCA, LONDON (LIVE REVIEW)

It’s still early doors in 2017, we’re barely halfway through January and the prospect of an all-day session in your local pub garden seems a mile off. Sure, at this stage, the taste of summer is only a vivid apparition in the depths of your subconscious but fear not we’ve got more than enough excitement to get us through the bitterly cold winter months. Rock music is booming, across the nation we have a flurry of sensational talent gripping the hearts and minds of those seeking its fruitful nectar. We’ve seen the rise of bands like Slaves, Blossoms, Drenge, Wolf Alice and, even more recently, the emphatic Cabbage. This has paved the way for a plethora of newcomers as the trend continues into the New Year with a lineup of bands devilishly dirty enough to induce severely impulsive vomiting. Hopefully not all over the new pair of trainers your Great Auntie bought you for Christmas, better hope you kept that TK Maxx gift receipt.

On Saturday we headed to Holloway Road in London, the home of the infamous live music venue Nambucca for This Feelings ‘Big In 2017’. This Feeling play a key role in the rise of fresh new rock and roll talent. Operating in the shadows of small venues across the UK for the past 10 years, they’ve been pivotal in providing bands the platform they need to ‘make it happen’. Their opinion is notoriously well regarded across the music industry’s elite with the likes of Kasabian, Paul Weller and Carl Barat all being voiced advocates of the club night curators. So it comes as no surprise when we say ‘Big In 2017’ is one of the most anticipated gigs of this year’s live music calendar.

At a mere £5 a ticket, you feel like heading down to your local police station to turn yourself in for daylight robbery. Seriously what a bargain! Eight bands, one stage and a ridiculous amount of beer, what more could you want to beat away those treacherous January blues. Now, if we sit and talk you through all the bands that graced the stage last Saturday we’ll be here till the end of Donald Trump’s presidency. I suppose that’s one way to weather the inevitable shit storm over the pond BUT frankly none of us have that kinda’ time on our hands so we’ll give you the shortened version of events. All artists on the evening’s bill are fast making a name for themselves across the wide green lands of our glorious nation! Touring relentlessly, show after show and putting in some solid studio graft to bring us their hell-raising sounds.

The Blinders, children of Manchester; a city renowned for its incredible contribution to music over the years with bands like Oasis, Stone Roses and The Smiths. Now dawns a NEW era of music slowly creeping its way from the depths of Manchester’s illustrious underground. It’s a modern take on the days of old punk, with the same driven intent and purpose but a fresh new face and style. What do the bands all have in common I hear ya’ ask? Well, there’s no beating around the bush, it’s direct and in your face. The angsty, politically, driven agenda points un-mercifully towards the heart of No. 10 Downing Street. They’ve sharpened, hoisted and aimed their spears straight at the back of any Tory MP they can lay their hands on. So all you silver spoon, middle class pricks BEWARE these bands are making a lasting impression on the youth of today and they’re coming for you.

REVOLT! Is the word boldly glimmering on the bass guitar, shining in the dim lights of the sweaty venue like an unsubtle happy slap to the face. This band sure doesn’t fuck about, and neither does their music! It’s raw, eerie, intricate and politely aggressive. A mix of adjectives that are sure to raise a few eyebrows, have we got your attention? You need to literally drop whatever it is you’re doing because right now this band are more fucking important. The Blinders are a MUST LISTEN so make sure, after reading this lengthy piece of bullshit, you check them out!

“Targeting the youth and the poor man is my prey” are the words swirling around Nambucca like a highly contagious STD as the band smash through ‘ICB Blues’ from their Hidden Horror Dance EP. They rally the troops with their infectious lyricism; nothing gets an adolescent mind racing more than the thought of anarchy and revolution. On every front this band are spotless, absolutely no sign of potential weakness or cracks in their foundation. From the mancunian Kurt Cobain-esque screams in the lead singer vocals to the psychopathically rapid drum fills and bold, punchy basslines they leave no rock unturned. The lead guitar is full of reverb; it echos, delays and tremors creating the kind of mysterious and illusive atmosphere that we’ve come to love on albums like Arctic Monkeys ‘Humbug’ and The Wytches ‘Annabel Dream Reader’. We hear the best of the lead guitar on their latest single SWINE, with scratchy garage riffs and a twirling vortex of solo that pierces your skin, courses through your veins and possesses your core. You come crashing back down to the rain sodden earth as they pull you back from your mesmerising vortex into the main riff, abruptly ending like a door slamming in a young child’s face. There’s a brief moment of pause mid-song, the amp is switched off and the guitar lent unsettlingly up against it. The lead singer struts up to the front of the stage, picks the biggest bloke in the crowd and gets on his shoulders, microphone still in hand. He starts to spin a riddle from the lofty heights of Nambucca’s ceiling. Telling tales of social unrest, expressing strong views on government corruption and illuminating the modern class divide that pollutes today’s Britain. Bass and drums are still going strongly at this point until the inebriated chosen member of our crowd takes the young rocker back to his platform of sound to unleash an almighty hell storm in the form of aforementioned solo. Bottom line….. it was incredible, so much energy, life and vigour to the set. BRAVO lads (cue conservative round of applause).

Strange Bones are another band that decorates their music with strong political undertones. They do, however, opt for less elusive forms of communication. Subtlety clearly has no place on their agenda; the delivery is ballsy, bold and fucking euphoric. The whole set was roared with invigorating energy, so powerful they tapped into the core of London’s geological foundations and spread their sonic force throughout the city. You could hear the set from all the way over in Westminster. They stepped foot on stage and immediately you knew they meant business. New track ‘We The Rats’ is what we imagine having an OD on adrenaline would feel like, absolutely drenched in rebellious mayhem. Their musical aura and rhythmic flow is very Queens of The Stoneage. You can feel this influence on a vast majority of their songs. There’s a fundamental, hip swinging wood groove that turns unexpectedly snarly in intermittent bursts. It’s dangerously infectious! They make it their own though, with an avalanche of originality and attitude. We notice a distinctly bluesy vibe to their songs one of, again, subtle proportions. You can feel the blues swagger coursing through the veins of the rhythmic riffs and turnarounds in ‘We The Rats’. It’s demonstrated in different capacities throughout their sound with a slightly unhinged sense of The White Stripes surfacing on their track ‘Spitfire’. You could just imagine Jack White giving that song a good seeing too with his signature Digitech Whammy pedal.

The set was carnage; beers flying everywhere, lead singer moshing with the fans and guitarists on eachothers shoulders. It’s exactly what you want from a gig like this, something to get the blood surging round your body. Their presence and energy onstage is unrivalled throughout the night. We couldn’t take our eyes off the spectacle in front of us; you’d be an absolute fool not to check them out. They’re heading out on tour with Blackwaters next week so get down to one of the many venues they’re playing for a dose of rock and roll. We’ll be at the Guildford Boileroom next Friday (27th). That’s just how good it was. We want more already!

Rounding the night off to a spellbinding finale were The Shimmer Band. They stepped out onto the stage glammed up from head to toe in glitzy garms, flare trousers and a pair of questionable white framed sunglasses. We’re gunna take a stab and say they were bought 2-4-1 at Camden Market on Saturday afternoon…. who know’s? They’re currently gearing up for a relentless month of touring with Cabbage in February so a, packed out, Saturday night at Nambucca was the perfect opportunity to polish their big boy shoes and strut their stuff. The greatly anticipated pop rockers lived up to their lofty expectations, drawing the night to a close in mesmeric fashion. Clearly heavily influenced by 90’s chord rock, in particular a certain Gallagher brother infusion, the band manage to create a sound that has a real enormous significance about it. One you would expect to fill a stadium/ arena one day! For those reading this that have no idea who The Shimmer Band are, rest assured you will do someday. Whether that’s immediatley after reading this article or on your next tea break at work, we aren’t to know but buckle up cos’ they’re coming your way. Radio Air Time and top ten chart positions seem to be nestled rather certainly in this bands future. I mean, we’re no mind reading psychics but this one’s a given. It’s ‘written in the stars’ as they say.

We know a lot of you are impatient buggers, you can’t even be arsed to drag your crumb riddled mouse over to the top of the screen, open a new tab and search YouTube so we’ll save you that unbearable hassle. You want to know what to expect from The Shimmer Band right now, don’t you? To sum this band up in a basic and shortened fashion would be criminal BUT……. we’re going to do it anyway. Imagine if a band from Leicester fucked a band from Manchester in the toilet of a grotty venue down an alley in Bristol. PAUSE. Okay, we can hear you all now ‘what the fuck are they talking about?!’. You heard us right though. The Shimmer band are, in short, Oasis and Kasabian’s love child. Yep, we said it; you were thinking it! There you go, cats out the bag. Good luck unhearing that one.

If This Feeling’s ‘Big In 2017’ ensemble is anything to go by, 2017 is on course to be one hell of a year for Rock and Roll. Long may it live!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsXECXUVHTk