@alpaca.presents
by Brandon van der Berg @vdb.brandon
This night was a revival of the fact that you don’t need Jimmy Kimmel or James Cordon to find new entertaining acts. They’re right here in the scene with the added bonus of not practicing terrible posture in front of a glaring screen until 4am, which I definitely don’t do.
It was also the night I noticed that if you stand at the back of Crofters Room 2 and look up, there’s a tall ceiling and wall caked in ‘Queens of the Stone Age’ Posters, and that was neat.
Athena
We all have those songs we put on, step in beat and feel like we’re walking through some montage of confidence and cool kid galore like a good little die-hard neo-romantic. Athena might be one to test out the next time you’re feeling yourself and if not, definitely one to slap in that particular playlist.
You can really tell the music has been thought through heavily, each song leaves a fresh taste in the mouth… ears? A fresh taste in the ears?
A fresh taste in the ears.
With a great sense of articulation from the drummer and an immemorial number of mistakes, It’s cool to imagine what it would be like with a bigger performance, but if not then it’s still a fresh take on a quartet of Tom Morello inspired Pale Waves and its pulled off without a hitch.
Compared to their studio stuff which is very electronic, this is an entirely new live version and although I definitely think I heard some use of backing tracks here and there, it’s definitely carried by them here as live musicians who have taken it to a much heavier place. Something that many bands do not do is considering two different experiences with headphones on, and off, and acting on it. It’s cool.
For Fans of Hayley Kiyoko and Poppy.
Find them on Instagram and Spotify
Hannah Lou Reid
A wave of sound that made me feel like a hospital patient from that scene in ‘The Dark Knight’. Where the hospital blows up.
“Some are chill, some are heavy, it’s something for everyone”
Damn right, the group covered everything from Math-Rock to Paramore but kept it fluid and with a congruous identity throughout.
Frontwomen Hannah in particular did some vocal runs that reminded me that I really can’t sing…. Thanks for that Hannah!
A really comfortable energy to the set is also thanks to her, an entertainer who didn’t have a morsel of awkward energy on stage. It's fun and sincere and really quite quirky at times with your attention being pulled from one instrument to another in a delicate overlapping harmony and you’re frantically looking between them to see it all like a kid who’s just been shown a musical Pick’n’Mix for the first time because seriously, all of these players have some chops and it was really cool to get to watch it live.
It has all the energy and emotive dynamic of an anime season-finale fight.
If you’ve got a spare 116 hours my personal favourite is ‘Bleach’. That show is the bee’s knees.
The band performed some really interesting, entirely original music and have some damn catchy hooks.
For fans of Paramore and Bombay Bicycle Club.
Find them on Instagram and Spotify
AVA
“If I’m my body, and I’m my skin, then why the f**k is it something you keep getting involved in?”
AVA is a collective of attitude, energy and undeniable heart.
The way James Drummer raises his hands before crashing down into the kit is comparable to an AC-130 Angel of Death coming down swiftly and almost stops to look slow motion for the brief elegant curl. Reuben Bassist is akin to the biblical Goliath from ‘David and Goliath’, assuming this Goliath was raised by the devil from Jack Black’s ‘The Pick of Destiny’, the weight of his stage presence is unquestionable. The guitarists Lissy Rhythm and James Lead perform with real soul and with a perfect balance of being individually unique and awesome to watch on top of leaving enough space for Frontwomen El to put on a good show, which she does with a seamless vigour.
It all comes together to form what I imagine to be the go-to post-apocalyptic ‘Mad Max’ band that play on the floats during the car raids, it just has that umph.
The songs resound thickly in that deep part of your diaphragm and with a set full of catharsis and energy enough to power a small British town for a few days, it’s hard not to look back and feel second-hand stank. Stank face. The face.
“I want to f***ing smell you” – James Guitarist on asking the audience to move closer.
The choreography of it all is breathtakingly mixed with the music and notably Rhythm Guitarist Lissy, who’s authentic and dynamic performances really give it that hit of surrealism. Not to take away from the other bandmembers who are all talented and versatile performers in their own right.
The act performed their newest single “Narcissist”, released 29th of April, joined by main-support Hannah Lou Reid leaving a few audience members looking like they were desperately headbanging too fast for their body, a rabid nod and hop almost comically pulling their body up and down away from the ground like some sort of human slinky.
For Fans Of Wolf Alice and Circa Waves.
Find them on Instagram and Spotify
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