Moose Blood + Turnover + Boston Manor + Luca Brasi @ o2 Institute, 3rd October 2016
First up this evening are Australian punk rock band Luca Brasi, who are returning the favour of providing support to Moose Blood after the roles were reversed on a recent tour in Australia. The band put on a great set to the ever growing yet unfamiliar crowd with a sound not too far flung from that of The Gaslight Anthem. It’s a solid set that hopefully has showcased the band to many new ears and aid their return to our shores in the future.
It feels like the evening properly kicks off once Boston Manor take to the stage, in promotion of recently released début record ‘Be Nothing’. There are plenty of moments within their thirty minute set you could be sure that Boston Manor were headlining this evening due to the number of crowd surfers and the number of fans singing along. Using their set to play a number of tracks from their new record such as ‘Lead Feet’, ‘Laika’ and ‘Cu’, there’s also older cuts from previous EP’s such as ‘Trapped Nerve’ and ‘Gone’. It’s obvious that a huge proportion of the audience are already familiar with Boston Manor’s material which works highly in their favour and hopefully a big confidence boost for the rest of the tour.
It’s then the turn of Turnover who bring a more reflective and calm atmosphere to tonight’s proceedings, playing tracks from latest album ‘Peripheral Vision’. This evening’s bill should be applauded for both its diversity within the genre but also the size of the supports for what could still be considered to be an intimate tour. You wouldn’t feel robbed for example if this bill was touring academy sized venues.
Moose Blood have been growing from strength to strength, from the release of début record ‘I’ll Keep You In Mind, From Time To Time’ to the release of new record ‘Blush’ on Hopeless Records. Whilst gaining support from the likes of Radio One, it’s a fair comment to say that Moose Blood haven’t grown out of their scene and are simply leading the pack.
Tonight’s performance is the first time, in all honesty, that it’s felt you’re watching a proper band. I had previously seen them supporting Fightstar at Brixton, a massive show, and also on their last headline tour. But tonight is a sold out headline show, at a nice venue, with production value in terms of lighting that just elevates the bands performance beyond what it was before. And it was bloody good before.
Opening with ‘Pastel’, the band run through a gigantic 17 song set of cuts from both records, without much talking in between. But the songs do the talking. Tracks such as ‘Bukowski’ and ‘Boston’ need no introduction, with the audience at points visibly amazing the band in terms of singing back. It’s a testament to how good the songs are, that the audience are so passionate and responsive as if the songs are theirs.
Ending on ‘Knuckles’ there virtually isn’t anyone not singing the words back at full pelt to the band. In my opinion there’s no limit as to how far this band can go, they’re leaders in the scene but also have pop hooks with mainstream appeal. I would go as far as saying they’re the perfect band.
Review: Dan Earl
Photographs: Chris Bowley