LIVE REVIEW: KEROSCENE, MONTAGUE ARMS, LONDON 15TH MARCH

Wednesday nights aren’t renowned for their glimmering selection of nightlife offerings, most people are burdened with the crippling thought of an early 9am start the following morning which swings any decision to head out for some fun, usually, only one way. Sofa, quilt, cup of tea and BBC iPlayer is the notorious midweek gift that just keeps on giving. We shouldn’t be so easily persuaded to slip into a pair of slippers and write off any thought of heading out for a few bev’s and exploration though, especially if you’re a fan of live music. After all, who knows, you could miss a set from your future favourite band. The best part is it’ll likely cost you less than a Tesco’s chicken korma ready meal and a bottle of Cobra aswell. No brainer!

Those of you that weren’t at the Montague Arms on Wednesday last week we’re, unfortunately, subject to the aforementioned faux pas. By residing in the allure of your homely comforts you managed to miss a night of incredible live music from a band that, quite frankly, won’t be playing such intimate venues for much longer. So there you have it jokes on you!

We headed out to the Montague Arms in Peckham last Wednesday night to catch Keroscene in live action! We’ve been following their journey closely so far, reviewing a few of their single releases and picking their brains in an exclusive interview. So as you can imagine we were itching to catch them live and assess the kind of noise they’re capable of. The first thought that popped into my head was ‘FUCK, this is a lot louder and ballsier than I thought it would be’. From what we’ve heard on their studio recorded singles so far we had the taste of a band that strive for genre intricacy, melodic hooks, anthemic power and assured, yet soft delivery. We we’re sure we’d nailed the character profile BUT they came crashing in with yet another unexpected surprise, managing to blow us straight out the water. Sure, their live set still had all the above characteristics, after all this is the fundamental backbone of their sound, but what stood out for us was how heavy, dirty, gritty and authoritative it played live! They went from sounding like an aesthetic, shoegaze, ‘stand at the back of the room and drift in and out of consciousness’ band into ‘let’s get an intense/ sporadic pit going’. You know one of them moshpits where you spend 30 second stints losing your shit, flying about all over the place and inbetween you’ve got one hand raised to the heavens and the other round a stranger as you gaze into each other’s eyes singing. Don’t deny it…. we’ve all been there!

Keroscene’s live expertise oozes PLACEBO! The dark 90’s grunge scene that meticulously balances the traits of heavy guitar power and melodic haze. They create a void of sound, something that destroys any awareness of the surrounding world with tunnel like vision heading straight towards the stage. It’s not thrashed out at you, it seeps off the stage like a toxic gas and sends the room into hypnosis. At one point it looked as if the lead singer/ guitarists hand was about to dissipate into thin air as he absolutely shredded into his guitar with no remorse. They played a solid set that included pretty much ALL of their tracks w/ debut single Cotton Candy making an appearance nestled in the middle of Just Like Zero, Like The First Time, I Can’t Do A Thing and latest release ‘Our Time’. Along with this rather Placebo like aura the band had a bit of the Pixies about them aswell, one member of our team thought he heard them smashing through a cover of ‘Where Is My Mind?’ but it was just the voices in his head......

The venue was, as expected, the size of an old boot. Intimate as you can get, as soon as we walked through the pub doors the band were stood by the bar greeting friends and family who had come down to watch their set. You don’t get more ‘low key’ gig than that! The pub itself was like an old American hunting lodge, taxidermy all over the shop, stag heads prominently place on every wall and crevice of the joint. It’s a bizarre little place but it’s got tons of charm and character about it, not to mention the staff we’re all really friendly, which in London is an art long lost. Be sure to follow Keroscene on FB, Twitter, Spotify, Youtube and all the other forms of social media/ online presence @kerosceneband. Listen to their music, share it with friends and family and GO see them live if you can! Like what you hear and want to know a bit more about the band head over to our interview with them HERE! PEACE xoxo

P.S: apologies for the rather shit picture we were too busy watching them do their thang!