Well that was fun. Back at my favourite small venue in London for this Brighton based four piece delivering quirky British pop. First up though is Blood Wizard of whom I knew nothing about. But I was glad to get there early to take in their set of spiky pop with shades of Television meets talking Heads meets Gary Numan. Good stuff.
After seeing them support Sunflower Bean earlier in the year this was a must see for me this time around on their first headline tour. With no album out yet the set is a mixture of their Eps and three new songs with a special mention to ‘Love Song’ which is a banger.
What’s clear is that they are still really enjoying themselves on stage and while it’s not the slickest show with the usual obstacle course of cables, equipment on this small stage it all adds to the experience. It’s sold out tonight with an enthusiastic crowd many of whom seemed to know the band personally and certainly knew the words to many of the songs.
Chloe Howard is a charismatic front person, engaging with the crowd perfectly dominating the front of the stage. But they are more than ably supported by the rest of the band who deliver a perfect pop soundscape to their strong vocals.
It would be churlish to compare them to the current golden band Wet Leg but there is more than enough room in this area for them to both exists and I would hope that Wet Legs success will open more doors for bands like this to flourish.
Highlights tonight include crowd favourites like ‘Clockwork’ and ‘Marbles’ and this one will be racked up as another great gig by a great new band in a great venue. One to add to the must see list when they come back.
A great short sharp night of great pop and keep on pop rockin’ y’all