Recently I have been browsing the internet and social media sites for new, raw and fresh upcoming bands who I have acquired a liking to, triggering my senses that one day they will become big.This so happened to be Moose Blood. As recently they played two shows in London for free, for a small intermate audiences along with Zoax and Roam. The reason why I found out about the was from a dear friend who wouldn't stop banging on about how great and unique they sound. Now I trust her judgment as she has proven to show me some of the most underrated yet mind blowing talent, England has to offer. As well as that she had previously gotten me into the supporting band of these two shows, Roam! Instantly falling in love with their upbeat pop punk genre, I was waiting for the day in which I could see them live.
This so happened to be one Sunday afternoon at Banquet Record's linked pub, The Fighting Cocks, which a few of their shows are held at.
Never being inside this venue or Pub, I didn't quite know what to expect as it was a full line up of three different genre bands playing together for a few lucky fans.Only really familiar with Roam, I was excited to hear the other two bands perform live to see what the fuss was about.
First up was Zoax, who are a five piece rock based band from London. Arriving late, we only got to catch the last two songs of their set, yet nevertheless they were surprisingly solid. The lead singer Adam took to the floor where he greeted the crowd in a much enthusiastic bouncing manner, circling the small space we left him, he roamed around the place, filling up every empty motionless gap he could find, which really did grip me to their sound further. Already regretting turning up late, the band proved to be one worth getting to see on time, even though I only managed to catch the last two songs, they seemed to make up for the whole set. From the moment we entered the venue, we could already hear them outside, making the loudest of noise in such a small room.
The venue it's self was pretty small as the stage was in line with the floor, as it was at the back of the pub, despite it's size it seemed appropriate for these bands to play, as the room seemed packed with a quite a decent turn out.
The next band on were Roam, whom I was looking most forward to see. Again another five pieced pop punk band from Brighton/ Eastbourne, they all appeared very young in age, emerging within the crowds population, this was a band everyone could easily relate to. Previously listening to their music, I have adored them and see them becoming very big in the widely growing pop punk scene at the moment, as they seem to be hitting all the right spots. Only recently forming in 2012, it has just been a year for them yet they have come so far, as just announced they will be supporting Neck Deep on their tour in January, ( another gig I wouldn't want to miss).
Introducing them selves to the already familiar crowd, Roam started their set in full pop punk motion, carrying out their upbeat guitar rifts along with the head bobbing drum beats I found it hard not to let my body move along to this catchy beat.
Each intro into the song remained a sense of nostalgia, however each one being independent and unique in the way the verse and lyrics took as it progress to a much faster build up to the chorus.
For a young and fresh new band, Roam proved to have the skills and appeal for a much experienced pop punk band, and even better than some who have been around for a while now, they truly did deserve much more recognition that they have now, and someday I can see them becoming very likable in the music world.
Nothing In Return was one of the songs that played off their mini album "Head Down" which proved to be my favorite. The simplistic tempo, infused with the echoing sounds of the bridge, captivated me in a feeling of unison and community as a few people began chanting back the lyrics in pure passion.
(Listen to the live stream of it for free here: Head down mini album)
Another thing I liked about Roam was that they all looked to happy to be playing in front of such a small audience, making eye contact with the crowd, meeting their gaze with a smile boosted the whole atmosphere in such a small packed room. The set lasted for a decent amount of time, as towards the end more of the crowd got into the music, while Alex did his final circle of the room, bouncing around in every direction.
For a fact, they were the highlight of the night, as soon as they hit the stage, they had already got the crowd going and also left us in a high spirited mood, as their songs are much relatble, encouraging positive memories.
Following the first two live performance was finally Moose Blood themselves as previously playing at the Fighting Cocks before the band were much too familiar with the surroundings.
Not exactly knowing what to expect for their set as I had only just browsed on them, I could already tell by the masses of more people joining the floor, filling up the space, getting right close to where the stage started, excited for them to play that it was going to be good.
The emo band are originally from Canterbury, and are made up from four very talented members.
Taking to the small stage, the band did their little introduction before starting on their first song. The pure rawness of Eddy's vocals were crystal clearly beautiful, despite the fact he had a cold, this added to the husky, hard hitting, penetrating vocals in which he let out. Right away a huddle of people right at the front seemed engaged with this song as they already started singing along, finger pointing in perfect sync along with the lyrics. This all then combined with the heaviness of the guitars and drums, backing up the vocals, pushing forward the sentimental atmosphere.
The acoustic innocence which hid in his voice shattering through when Evening Coffee played as Eddy vocalized each note of the song, highlighted by the guitar riff.
After each song was over, he would then take a short minute to thank everyone, over again for being here just watching them play, which was such a decent thing for them to do as you could tell the band was more than grateful to almost fill up the room. I for one, was more than happy that I went down because the voices I were hearing,composed with the instrumental backing defiantly made my Sunday.
As each song stopped and started, I'd wish that it would have never ended and they'd just repeat the set again because it was that captivating, where you would just focus on them and close your eyes, letting the music absorb you, Moose Blood got me that hooked.When it comes to emo music, Moose Blood hit the nail right on the donkey as they have seem to take the contemporary sound and combing it with a natural acoustic feel. Defiantly worth going to, Moose Blood were the highlight for me, as they proved to be miles better live than hearing them on their bandcamp, which is always a great thing to find.
Looking forward to hopefully see all three bands again sometime, as each one delivered more than expected to such a little crowd, Banquet records always seem to put on such a grand show with the best sounding music from all over the UK. It was a shame that it needed so soon, however each band demonstrated the afternoon to be worth 10/10.
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