LIVE REVIEW: 4 GIGS IN 4 DAYS w/ INHEAVEN, FREAK, APRIL, THE SHIMMER BAND, AFTER LONDON, THE BAY RAY

Let me start off by saying ‘sorry folks’. I’ve been unforgivably tardy in getting this live review put together, sloppy work. It was due to be published almost 2 weeks ago but alas here we are, still waiting to consume its lavish offerings. I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me! The past two weeks have been absolutely manic, I’ve not had a minute spare to sit on my arse and write. Not to mention I contracted a monster case of the man flu, leaving me bed ridden for quite some time. That knocked me back a few pegs on the ol’ productivity train. Inhumane isn’t it, me being ill! How cruel can this world be? I’ve only just stopped wearing my pants and eating ropey chicken soup but there you have it, that’s my ‘the dog ate my homework’ excuse did you buy it?

Across the space of four days we trekked tirelessly around the great landscape of the South West and London to gather some vital intel on an array of upcoming bands for you. We went to Reading twice, up to Camden and even braved an evening in our local Aldershot venue………… eergh i know! It was a knackering experience with countless trains, pints and late nights but we got to see some incredible live sets from headline and support acts alike. Wednesday saw us head to the West End Centre in AlderSHIT for INHEAVEN with support from Freak & The Vinyl Staircase, Thursday we were at Purple Turtle in Reading for a bit of crazy Cabbage, The Shimmer Band and April, Friday we hit The Monarch in Camden for After London and Saturday we went back to Purple Turtle in Reading for the final stint of our mini ‘tour de south’ with Hidden Charms and The Bay Rays. There you have it our #4in4 gig tour! You just can’t beat live music.

Up we rocked to the school disco-esque venue that is The West End Centre in Aldershot, nothing about it really apart from the uncanny travel convenience. It’s pale in comparison to, Guildford based, sibling The Boileroom. Not an ounce of style, quirk or cool about it BUT it did the job. It’s basically just like your local small town theatre/ community centre complete with a bar full of frighteningly over enthusiastic staff that looked like they wanted to pat me on the head and chaperone me and my name sticker back to the ball pit to play. You get the jist, it was so uncool that it was almost cool. It was rammed with resentful 6th form students that dare not catch each other’s eye line in fear of eternal embarrassment and social exile. It’s safer to keep your head buried into your phone young one, that’s your home…. own it. There was no bar in the actual ‘gig room’ so between the bands the crowd found themselves migrating back into the lobby much like an intermission at the theatre. Bit weird! When the next band was due to hit the stage an announcement was made over the venues tannoy. It reminded me of being 5 years old and losing my old dear on a shopping trip in Safeway’s. “Where did you go? I was worried sick!”, you know, that old chesnut. Must have been something to do with the 20mins I spent staring at the cake counter dribbling over Belgian buns, Spiderman cupcakes and iced fingers. Those were the days!

INHEAVEN’s whirlwind of indie grunge pop managed the impossible on the night. They injected some life into a town with no pulse, something that’s never actually been achieved before in Aldershot. Their latest single and ballsy heavyweight ‘Treats’ was the big hitter of the night sending the handful of teens in the tiny venue into a state of pure pandemonium. Lead singer and rhythm guitarist James Taylor urged the crowd to open up and lose their shit, to which they happily obliged. Circling round, flailing their limbs and pushing each other around like a mini hadron collider. The crowd was mixed and varied with people of all ages coming together to let their midweek hair down and have some fucking humpday fun. It’s great to see rock and roll bringing people together, anyone and everyone is welcome! The shoegaze grunge tenacity of Treats abolished the rather sterile environment and eased the crowd into relaxation. Sound wise you’re looking at a guitar driven hazy dream-pop on a bed of thick grunge, it’s pretty hard to summarise. We got a huge whiff of The Killers throughout; their style is cladded in Brandon Flowers exotic indie pop with hints of his momentary monotone vocals and glittery pizzazz. A great auditory recipe when combined with the grungy undertones. They played a meaty set with all their hits including ‘Regeneration’, ‘Baby’s Alright’ and ‘Bitter Town’. The latter of them three tracks, Bitter Town, is where you start to see that real 90’s rock influence. With droning lead guitar hooks, dooming percussion and Placebo like vocals. If this sounds like your cup of tea then check them out, their tour is over now but they play a number of UK festivals this summer if you’re heading to any be sure to go see INHEAVEN live.

Freak provided the support on the night. If it’s energetic, happy clappy garage rock you’re after then this is the band for you. They played a collection of tracks that are extremely easy to stand and listen too with riffs on riffs on riffs, punchy bar chord choruses and scratchy solo breaks all thrown into a mixing pot of funky sharp bass and snappy drum fills. Their latest track and arguably best song ‘Cake’ stole the show; it’s like taking an adrenaline needle straight to the neck. The set was full of energy and ‘buzz’ great live band make sure you see them if you can.

NEXT……….. CABBAGE! Now, this gig was so fucking good that we decided to do a special spotlight review. Yep, we wanna shine the light on its wonderful rock and roll glory! For those of you that are well clued up on today’s emerging music talent this band will certainly not need an introduction. If you wanna’ read some more on this then head over to the “Cabbage Live Review” HERE. Make sure you come back and read the rest of this though or just set yourself a reminder to read it after you’re done here the choice is all yours.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7fre4q1zbE

We are however going to discuss the evenings support bands. They’re both far too good to be overlooked! April and The Shimmer Band are no strangers to the live circuit playing show after show with the notorious club promoters ‘This Feeling’ and supporting pretty much every band under the sun. Both bands are great advocates of live music and epitomise everything that’s great about upcoming bands in the UK, charismatic, energetic and relentless in making a name for themselves. April were first to hit the stage, reeping the rewards of touring with a band that have caused quite the stir recently. They’ve built themselves a decent reputation in the short space of time since the release of their debut track ‘Ten Miles High’ back in 2015 and it showed with the amount of people that got down early to catch them. Most recent track ‘Open Mind’ is a tantalisingly dark disco floor filler with a heavy punk rock edge. This mix of styles is downright audacious but it works so fucking well, they sound like a band that have been knocking around for years! We’re expecting big things from these Nuneaton based lads so catch them live nice and early so you can recite those famous words “yeah I was there”. Our readers will be no strangers to The Shimmer Band, we first caught them in action back in January at This Feelings ‘Big In 2017’ showcase. As we’ve mentioned before they have a HUGE atmospheric sound that’s powerful enough to wipe you clean off your feet especially in these small venues where they currently ply their trade. They have a very unique and original style one that’s begging to be blasted through the speakers off a sold out Brixton Academy or R&L mainstage one day! There really is no other way to put it, their sound is like a modern synthy lovechild of Kasabian and Oasis. Sorry guys that’s probably really lazy of us, but it’s just such a bang on explanation! Go on…. try and unhear that now. They endorse a pungent element of pop phychadelia which has great energy when played live. Their latest single “Jacknife & The Death Call” was clearly the standout track of their set, a great indication that this band really are only just getting started. The thought of a debut EP/ album in the near future really has us watering at the mouth. They dominate any stage they play drenched in their iridescent colours, baggy garms and those god awful white ‘alien eyes’ sunglasses that the lead singer insists on wearing every time they play. Maybe he is an alien? We’ll be seeing them several times over the course of the summer and, yes, you should be jealous! Get down to a festival and watch them live it’ll go down perfectly when consumed with a beautiful British summers day.

Friday saw us head to The Monarch in Camden for an evening of serene auditory bewilderment. It’s our third night in at this point, two gigs down, countless pints and nothing to show for ourselves but a stonking fucking headache. Every cloud has a silver lining though and ours was ‘After London’. We couldn’t have asked for a better gig! It was jam packed with articulate strings, airy guitar, mesmerising vocals and “solid as a rock” bass and drums that carried us through the night in a state of shire contentment. We’ve been happily acquainted with these guys since way back in October last year when we covered the release of their debut single ‘Hesitate’. They dropped us a line pre-gig to join them for a few bevvies and a catchup BUT, being the tardy fucks that we are, arriving late was an inevitability. So by the time we’d squeezed past the burly bouncers on the front door and got inside they’d just hit the stage. If you’re reading this guys, soz! We’ll make it up to you next time for sure, beers on us! xoxox

It began rather sparse as the shy crowd retracted into each corner and crevice the venue had to offer. One by one the crowd creeped up to the baron dancefloor each time providing that little nudge to the next person behind them. The momentum and atmosphere picked up as the intrigue built. Soon the floor was packed with bodies and faces all directed forwards, eyes firmly fixated. It’s not your traditional gob on the floor, fist held high rock and roll gig but what it does give is something much different to the standard drib drab you see littering the pub and clubs of Camden these days. There’s an inviting and comforting aura to their sound that spreads around the room like an enlightening haze. Even the people way at the back, paying no attention to the stage, were affected by its presence. It created a tranquil atmosphere for all to enjoy. It’s not all calm and peaceful though, this band knows when to take off the handbrake. Unleashed at the right time, everytime, building suspense subtly and cohesively until all let loose, leading from the front through Francesca’s powerful vocals.

It was great to get a taste of After London as a live act, sure it’s not a morning neck ache waiting to happen but it’s just as, if not more, captivating to watch. Lead singer Francesca was on fantastic form connecting with the crowd through her body language and facial expressions much like a young blonde Florence. Her persona gave a real visual spectacle to the set, one that the audience lapped up willingly. She’s modelled herself round the style of Florence both vocally and visually on stage, but in her own way through a fierce spark of originality. Having a violinist as part of the fold gives them that edge and dynamic to immediately demand an audience’s inquisitive attention. They played both of their ‘released’ tracks Hesitate and All The Same Now and offered glimpses of some NEW tracks that are surely in the pipeline for announcement soon. They’re on the right path, that’s for sure, if they continue to put on performances like that then it’s only a matter of time until word of mouth has its way with After London. It won’t be long till NME catch wind of these guys, that is if they’ve decided to take Kanye West’s cock outta their mouths yet! I mean there’s no guarantee you’ll ever see another NME magazine without Justin Bieber, Rihanna or “Queen Bee” on the front. (If you were wondering, this is why their magazines are now dished out for FREE at every uni, train station and hell hole in the UK). Nowadays they’re easier to pickup than an STD in a dutch brothel. So actually scrap that NME don’t deserve After London! Moving on…….. give After London a follow on FB, Twitter @after_london and catch them at one of their next live dates, we’ll probably see you there.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9tfiB-yX7M

WE MADE IT…… it’s the last hurdle on our 4 night gig tour. We’re back at Reading’s Purple Turtle for Hidden Charms and The Bay Rays, this one, personally, had me particularly excited! In my blood courses garage blues rock, that’s my fundamental style/ passion. Give me a live White Stripes record and a roll of tissue and I’ll be at it all night. No but seriously you can’t beat its attitude, snarl and sex appeal! On tonight’s bill we had two blues rocky bands so for me it was heaven on earth! Supporting were The Bay Rays, a band brimming with blues boogie! They hit the stage leaking with confidence playing a set that blew the cobwebs away from the mixed crowd. Their Black Key’s- esque swagger and garage indie charm seduced the audience’s attention. Not a soul in the room dare look away from the stage. We got a taste of the future with this set, one that’s destined to shine brightly as the band expand into full album releases and headline UK tours one day. “Satisfaction” is the latest edition of their deck of tracks, they’ve just released the brand new music video which we covered so if you’re intrigued by what I’m telling you then click HERE to check that out.

Hidden Charms yet another fantastic band name! These boys sure put on one hell of a hoe’ down. We had keyboard, harmonica, tambourine, maracas, guitar, bass, drums the lot. I think the only instrument they didn’t pull out was a bloody harp. The end of the set was like a year six music lesson they got all the support band members up on stage to jam along to “I Just Want To Be Left Alone”. They all waltzed on up picking an instrument of their choice on the way. It was like that part of music lesson at school where you chose a weapon of your choice from the classroom box either the old triangle or the wooden instrument that looked like a McCoys ridge cut crisp. You know the one you scrape with another wooden stick. We googled it and found out they’re called ‘wooden agogo’s’ so there you have it, learn something new every day. Some fans got up on stage and joined in one bloke was so pissed he ended up falling over into the drum kit and dragging the lead singer of The Bay Rays down with him. Class stuff, a situation you’d only be privileged enough to witness at an intimate venue such as this! Their music created such a great atmosphere, honestly the whole place was absolute rocking. Again (we’re like a scratched record sometimes, but) they have a Black Keys twang to their sound probably stemming from that raw blues rock backbone. But they throw this insatiable twist into the mix with grand echos and subtle notes that creep up out of nowhere taking their tracks on unprecedented pathways into lands you never thought even existed. Their songs have the ability to turn your mind inside out taking you into a state of pure hysteria. Hidden Charms are quite frankly the dog’s bollocks. If you don’t know, then get to know you’d be an absolute fool not too.

The standout track of the set for us was, probably surprisingly for most, “I Don’t Mind”. It struck a fire inside me; I could feel a sense of overwhelming admiration towards this sound that was being blasted through my ear drums. The studio recording of this track is, unfortunately, only two and a half minutes long BUT live they turn it into an absolute spectacle. It morphs into what felt like a spontaneous live jam session. Hidden Charms aren’t just a band; they’re a group of individually incredible musicians that combine to make what can only be described as a blues rock orgasm. As an outcome of these 4 gigs if we had to suggest just one band that you MUST go and see live it would, without a shadow of doubt, be Hidden Charms. That may be slightly bias due to our affiliation with the bluesier shades of music but take it as you will. We’re gunna cut the review off here cos’ we’re on the verge of hitting 3000 words and that’s longer than any University course work I’ve ever done sooooo………..