Larkins @ The Sunflower Lounge 6th November 2019
A sold out show at The Sunflower Lounge is always the sign of an artiste clearly on an upward trajectory, conversely to the many shows that attract just four or five people.
And that’s a fact that the openers of Wednesday evening’s show Shai Brides were clearly thankful for, an actual crowd to play for as the first band for a weeknight 150 capacity show.
Having seen the band at the same venue previously, on Wednesday the group seemed to inherit a confidence and assurance that I don’t remember seeing before. This coupled with some fantastic upbeat songs saw the audience bobbing and dancing along early doors.
Next up were the mysterious Cherry Cherry who seemingly have no social media presence and I failed to find any information relating to them online, aside from a link to local band The Mustoes. Despite this, the band put on a fantastically professional performance with the lead singer channeling a modern day Alex Turner aesthetic with some accessible synth lead songs.
Hailing from Manchester, Larkins haven’t yet released a debut album. However following a number of EP’s as well as a live album recorded at the prestigious Albert Hall in their home city, the band are currently on a mammoth tour of the UK. Wednesday evening’s show at the Sunflower Lounge was sold out and clearly full of fans that love and are passionate about the band’s music, rather than being a press junket before the band hit the big time.
You could be deceived in fact that the band are way into their career despite being only at the start with tracks such as TV Dream, Something Beautiful and Sugar Sweet receiving the almighty sing along’s that they warrant. The band even provided the crowd with an arena worthy ‘light your phone up’ moment whilst giving a slick and well managed performance. And it’s these sort of moments that make up the majority of the evening.
The band are already there. They’re ready for the big time, it’s just a case of everyone else catching on.
Reviewer: Dan Earl