Recreations. - The Vic Swindon, 13/05/16

It's been a little under sixth months since Sam Duckworth last came to Swindon, so when it was announced that he was already returning for a headline show as Recreations., I jumped at the chance to get tickets.

Opening the show was Rob Lynch, who I'd seen once before (supporting All Time Low in Kingston). I was a couple of minutes late, so I'm not sure how many songs he played before 'Selfish Bones', but I arrived to the news that his second record is coming out in late July - certainly an exciting revelation!
I heard two brand new songs in the evening: the aforementioned 'Selfish Bones' ("a song about how I'm a selfish piece of shit and how I'm trying to get more interested in other people") and an untitled new song (which I'm referring to as 'Not Worlds Apart' based on the chorus) which Rob called a love song to the one mate he's stayed in touch with from school; the friend who got expelled after finding a prefect's nude photos online, printing them out and distributing them around the student body. Out of the two, I definitely preferred the latter: it's still stuck in my head today, and I can't wait for it to be released so that I can listen to it on repeat until I explode.
I'd actually forgotten how brilliant Rob was until I saw him again. I listened to his debut, 'All These Nights In Bars Will Somehow Save My Soul', so much just after I purchased it, but I haven't listened to it for a while - I have no idea why, because the songs are all ace. I particularly still enjoy 'Hawking', with its catchy "oh, no, it's not the end of the world" singalong. In the attempt to get the crowd involved Rob said he was bringing the "super Friday vibes", before joking about the fact that he really liked spending time in Swindon because he was catcalled for the first ever time earlier in the evening - "turned 30 last week - still got it!".
If you haven't given Rob a listen yet, I'm definitely suggest starting with that debut, and starting fairly soon. I was talking to him after his set and he said that his new single should be released within the next two weeks, so that's something to look out for. He's also performing on the acoustic stage at Slam Dunk Festival: it looks like I'll be able to make that set, and I'm already looking forward to seeing Rob again. This was his first time ever playing Swindon, and he said he was hopeful to return when the new album's been released: fingers crossed!

Setlist:
-
Selfish Bones
Whiskey
Hawking
Not Worlds Apart
My Friends and I

I'd been expecting Rob to steal the show for me, but there was no question that Sean McGowan was my highlight of the evening. When 'Place Your Bets' started I was a little undecided: his thick Cockney accent and his blunt lyrics ("wind your neck in, your doin' my head in") just didn't appeal to me in the slightest.
However, then 'Patchwork' started. Calling it a song about his "patchy beard", I hadn't been expecting too much, and I could feel myself getting a little bit restless. However, it ended up being so much more than that: a bittersweet love story, telling the tale of a boy and a girl going back to his place after a night out, and him desperately hoping she wouldn't think less of him in the morning when she noticed his patchy beard. It wasn't the most complex song lyrically or musically, but the way that Sean chose to phrase the lines - splitting them in unique and interesting places that really captured the attention of everyone in the room - and his look of utter vulnerability up on the stage: it was goosebump-inducing. The room was deathly silent, but in a respectful and interested way; even the people at the bar who had been drinking throughout Rob's entire set were rapt, and you genuinely could have heard a pin drop in the room. I've never experienced anything like it.
The rest of the set didn't surpass that moment, but it was almost like I was under a trance: I couldn't take my eyes off Sean even for a second. New song 'Come Unstuck' (which usually features Sam Duckworth, but they hadn't rehearsed enough) was very catchy, and that - combined with his cover of 'Wild Mountain Thyme' - proved that he could sing beautifully (the rest of his set was more spoken than sung, but he really hit the high notes and held the notes out during those two songs).
I couldn't find the names of the last two songs that he performed, but I really enjoyed them both. The penultimate song was about Sean returning to the pub that he got barred from to clean their toilets ("I showed them, didn't I? You're laughing, but this is my fucking life!") and it was tongue-in-cheek, the perfect lad anthem for a night out, particularly when Sean used the word 'swell' in the song and took a moment to pause, laughing about the fact that he used it in a lyric.
The last song in his set was by far the most intriguing: it was a spoken word piece, completely acapella, as a way for Sean to reintroduce himself ("I'm 23 years old and I'm normally pissed up") to wrap up his set and bid the crowd farewell. I've never seen a closer like it: it was entirely stripped back and unaccompanied, which made it one of the ballsiest moves I've seen in a very long time.
Sean McGowan is one of the most exciting acoustic acts I've heard in a very long time. The last time I found myself this pumped about an artist was when I discovered Heartwork (and we all know that my love affair with Dan O'Dell will continue eternally). I bought Sean's CD at the show, and I can't wait to listen to it on repeat over the coming weeks.

Setlist:
Place Your Bets
Patchwork
Come Unstuck
Wild Mountain Thyme cover
-
-

I had to miss the end of Recreations. set, because I live a little way outside of Swindon and our bus timetables are not the best. I left at 11pm, 45 minutes after Sam started his set, and he'd already managed to squeeze in nine songs: he doesn't mess around, and you can tell he's been touring extensively for a large period of his life because of how smoothly everything runs.
This tour is to support 'Baby Boomers 2', the first full-length Recreations. release that came out at the end of last month. I didn't realise it had already been released, so when I arrived at the venue and saw it for sale I had to buy it. Luckily the majority of the set was songs I was already familiar with - whether because he performed them when I saw him in December, or because they were reworked versions of Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly songs.
The thing about Recreations. is that it's very solidly grounded in dance music. Compared to the toned down, relaxing guitar sets of both Rob and Sean, Sam's funky beats got the crowd moving a bit more, and I loved the way he'd updated some of his older songs to fit into the new style.
Similarly to last time, the singalong to 'Red Spex' was the most crowd involved of the evening, with the chant of "with your red spex on, all the red flags just look like flags" being easily carried by a large portion of the crowd.
Because I didn't get to see the full set, I can't comment on what happened in the rest of the evening, but I really enjoyed the songs that I managed to see. I will admit that some of the dance sections were a bit too long (particularly the intro to 'Pipe Down', which seemed endless) but that's just down to personal preference - I much prefer singalongs to dance-centric tracks. However, I thought the breaks between the songs were very cleverly done: Sam had recorded sections from news broadcasts to fill the breaks, something that worked particularly well in the build up to 'Built To Last', a song in support of the junior doctor's strike.
Compared to last time I saw him, Sam was much less interactive with the crowd, but he was fitting so much into his set that he didn't really have enough time to stop and talk. He did speak for a little bit before he jumped into 'Out To Lunch' - it might be something that happened towards the end of his set. Hopefully I'll be able to see Sam performing as Recreations. again in the future.

Setlist:
Pipe Down
War of the Worlds
Lifestyle Concept Store
Zones Nine and Ten
Red Spex
In Two Minds
Built To Last
Chronicles of a Bohemian Teenager (Part One)
Out To Lunch
-

Just before I go, I need to give a huge shout out to Kieran from Sheer Music: he had to sell and check tickets AND man the sound desk all evening, which is a huge accomplishment. If I had that many responsibilities...

Kristopher Roe - The Vic Swindon, 16/12/15

Opening the show was Si Hall, the lead singer of Raze*Rebuild, a local Swindon band. He performed eight songs in total, including three songs from Raze*Rebuild's recent EP, 'Sting Like A Butterfly'.
In some ways his style reminded me of Neil Morris - who I saw live back in September - but I don't know if it was a real similarity, or just the fact that he was sharing a bill with Heartwork.
I didn't know any of Si's material, but I ended up really enjoying a good few of his songs. Of course, playing a show with Heartwork and The Ataris, his music was a tad on the depressing side, a couple of his songs really did make me laugh. His take on the 'a girl broke my heart so I wrote a song about it' trope was rather tongue in cheek, and the song he performed about the struggle of independent bands (he dedicated the song to "people who're in bands that don't get anywhere", to which his band mate in the crowd shouted "yeah, mostly with you!") was brilliantly written and highly astute. I couldn't find the names of either of the songs, but if you were at the show and happen to know I'd highly appreciate the information!
Si's set did flag a little bit at times, as his songs started sounding fairly similar, but that can often happen when you're a solo opening act. The thing that really mattered was that he performed his heart out, pushing his vocal to the limits and even performing a high jump after the thrashy outro that closed his set. To close his set he shared the fact that when he was in another band, fifteen years ago, leaflets for their shows posted around Swindon claimed that they were "The Ataris on a poor and uninspired day", which got a very big laugh.

My highlight of the evening was definitely Heartwork. When I got my tickets to the show he wasn't on the line-up, but when he was added to the bill last week he definitely became my main reason for attending.
This was my third time seeing him (Heartwork is the stage name of Dan O'Dell) live this year, and it was miles above the other two shows that I witnessed. The main reason for this is the addition of new song 'Dashboard Confrontational' - a tour de force that puts your emotions through the wringer and dumps you on the other side feeling distraught but strangely fulfilled.
Now, for some context: I write notes while I'm watching shows. I jot down things that the artists say, lyrics from songs that I find particularly inspiring, and descriptions of the music, all to assist me in writing my reviews. This should be the part where I look back on my notes and find some unique viewpoint or comment that I can share with you about how brilliant the song was, or how utterly captivating it was. However, because of how damn absorbing the song was, the only coherent thought I managed to get from it was: fuck me.
I think Heartwork is a guy who could really achieve something, if he keeps touring consistently and puts as much heart and soul into his writing as he has been thus far. But during 'Dashboard Confrontational' something clicked for me, and Heartwork became more than just a young guy with an acoustic guitar: it became an entity, an artist, a force to be reckoned with.
The rest of the set was brilliant: performing 'Butterfly', an older song that I hadn't experienced before, 'Achilles Friend' (the renamed 'The Things I Wish I'd Said') and 'I Went To Parts', but I think the set peaked with that jaw-dropping, powerful moment. Before he started the song, Dan shared the fact that he hadn't played the song live before and he didn't know if it would make it onto the album, because it relied too strongly on the drums, but that's completely wrong. No offence, Dan.
Seriously, though, if it doesn't make it onto the album I am going to kill somebody.

Setlist:

-

Midnight Calls

She

Dashboard Confrontational

Butterfly

Achilles Friend

I Went To Parts

I never really listened to The Ataris - not for a specific reason, it's just something that I never got around to doing, so - apart from 'In This Diary' - I didn't know any of the songs that Kristopher Roe played for us. It didn't stop me from enjoying the set, because his vocal is brilliant and the lyrical content of the songs is easy to connect to, but this wasn't a very memorable set for me.
I know, right, I must be crazy. Someone as legendary as Kris Roe comes to Swindon and I'm nonplussed by the entire event. But that's why it's taken me so long to write this review: I was trying to think of better observations to make, the aspects of this set that made it exciting and enjoyable for me, but in all honesty I felt rather bored and kind of just wanted to go home for an early night in bed.
It might have been something to do with the fact that Kris had to retune his guitar before every single song. Seriously, there was that much tuning and fiddling that if he hadn't done it he could have fitted another three songs into his set - no exaggeration. I was enjoying the music, but the time taken between songs left the set feeling stilted and disconnected. If I'd gone to see The Ataris as a band, I don't think I would have seen this, so it felt rather disappointing.
I don't really have anything else to say, I'm afraid. I always try to write in depth reviews, but there wasn't really any depth in this set for me to dive into. There's only so many times you can hear similar chords in a similar order with similar lyrical themes. I did enjoy 'San Dimas High School Football Rules' - as it was about going to Disneyland, it really stood out from the rest of the songs - and 'Your Boyfriend Sucks' (I think I know where Neck Deep got the inspiration for 'A Part of Me'!).
If anything, the interaction with the crowd was actually the selling point for me. Kris made a lot of witty quips while incessantly tuning, striking up debates about the potential plot line of the new Star Wars film ("I'm going to Star Wars tonight, but don't tell my girlfriend [...] I'm meant to be waiting until she gets here!") and discussing attitudes towards war ("If you fight war with war [...] It's the most stupid analogy in the world") and politics in general ("All politicians are fucking idiots, probably. [...] Someone had his moat cleaned for £3000. Moat? That's fucking awesome."). It was also extremely funny when Kris played his encore, warning the crowd that 'The Saddest Song' was his "pretend last song, which means I'll probably play some more after it, probably meaning definitely. I won't walk off, we'll just continue", ending the song by shouting "You've been excellent Swindon!", leaning slightly away from the mic and then leaning forward again, saying "Okay, I'm back!". Moments like this made the show more enjoyable, but overall it was a lukewarm headline set, which was a huge shame. 

Setlist:

In This Diary

The Hero Dies In This One

Unopened Letter To The World

San Dimas High School Football Rules

Better Way

I.O.U. One Galaxy

Summer '79

1-15-96

Your Boyfriend Sucks

Eight Of Nine

Summer Wind Was Always Our Song

Losing Streak

The Saddest Song

-

Skulls (The Misfits cover) 

My Hotel Year
-

I couldn't work out what the last song on the setlist was (sorry!) so if you were in attendance at the show please let me know in the comments down below.

Decade - The Vic Swindon, 27/04/15

A mere six months have passed since the last time Decade played Swindon, so I was ecstatic when they announced that they were coming back, and though last night was an eclectic mix (to say the least) it also ended up being one of the most fun shows I'd been to in a very long while.

The opening act, Heartwork, was definitely my highlight out of the three support bands. Playing acoustic music straight from the heart, Dan O'Dell poured everything he had into his half an hour set, and I was impressed by every moment. I'm a real sucker for emo acoustic music (Front Porch Step, Rob Lynch, This Wild Life) but it's not something we've ever had much experience of here in the UK, so it was brilliant to encounter such a fabulous lyricist performing on my home turf. 'I Went To Parts' is one of the most revealingly honest songs I've heard in a very long time, and I think this is going to be a song that I'm listening to for a long time to come. 

None of the songs were disappointing and every single one brought something different to the show - even though Dan was fighting with sound problems for a good chunk of his stage time. And as well as being a brilliant performer, Dan is a hilarious guy, and some of the comments he was coming out with between songs were the funniest things I'd heard in a very long time ("If you're here with a loved one... It's not gonna last!") making him seem like a blend of Aaron West and the Roaring Twenties with comedic American singer Bo Burnham. If you have a couple of quid, I'd sincerely recommend you download one of the Heartwork EPs - I'm sure you won't be disappointed. 

Second up were All Ears Avow, a local band who've gained a pretty big hometown following since the release of their EP, 'Home'. I'd seen them before, a couple of years ago, but I couldn't really remember what they were like, so I was absolutely blown away by their set. Recently all female-fronted bands seem to make pop-punk or pop-rock music, so it was refreshing to hear an alternative rock band with frontwoman Claire Sutton's vocals making them seem more similar to Halestorm than to We Are The In Crowd - it definitely gives them something different to push them ahead in this game.

Starting off with 'Better Now', a track reminiscent of a heavier version of Don Broco's 'You Wanna Know', they grabbed the crowd's attention immediately and did not let go of it for the entirety of their set. New song 'I Can Help You To Bend' was probably the catchiest song of the evening (not only because it employed my favourite instrument, the percussive egg, but because the hook was just so well written), followed closely by 'Waiting Games' and 'Tongue Tied', showing that their new songs are definitely their best songs. 

This band are definitely one who know who they are and where they want to go; the songs from their upcoming debut album 'Get In The Game' definitely demonstrated that their music is developing in a natural way that's likely to expand their fanbase dramatically following its release. I've already pre-ordered my copy, so I'd suggest you do so as well, because this band are definitely going to be one to watch - even more so if newest single 'Waiting Games' is an idea of things to come from the rest of the album. 

Setlist:

Better Now

Wings On Butterflies

Waiting Games

I Can Help You To Bend

Home

Tongue Tied

The heaviest band of the bill tonight were, by far, Big Nothing, a new band from Liverpool (well... new in this incarnation, they used to be known as Scouts). Seeming like a mixture between Bullet For My Valentine and Nirvana (so much like Nirvana, in fact, that they were verging on a tribute band), it all got a bit too heavy for me, and I didn't really enjoy their set. Musically, they were rather good, but most of their songs just seemed to blend in to each other, meaning that for the entire half an hour it just felt as though I was surrounded by discordant noise. Their banter was also lacking, with some of their jokes falling completely flat on the crowd, which was a shame - I hope they settle down and become more comfortable throughout the rest of the tour with Decade, because they just seemed much too nervous to make a real impact on anyone.

Decade's stage time was a bit later than anticipated, following a couple of microphone lead changes and some sound issues, meaning that they interacted with the crowd a lot more at the beginning of their set than they'd ever had a need to before, and I think it definitely made them more comfortable. Sometimes, especially when playing bigger venues, Decade seem as though they've gone a bit deer in the headlights and are incapable of talking to people, meaning that they music is brilliant but the atmosphere is a bit lacking, but that was not a problem tonight. With guitarist and backing vocalist Connor Fathers taking to the mic, he had the crowd laughing almost instantly, and you could tell that no one was too irritated with the delay taking place, because it just made the show that much more individual. Talking of the crowd, I was impressed with the turn out that this show saw - for a Monday night the venue was absolutely buzzing, and everyone got so involved with the show which was highly commendable.

When the music eventually did get started, it was a brilliantly constructed set featuring all of Decade's best songs, and two new ones. Playing the entirety of the 'Good Luck' album, as well as two older songs and the two new releases, it struck me how flawless their performance was (even with some technical issues making Alex's vocal seem a bit too quiet a points) and I was not disappointed to be seeing them again so soon after Takedown Festival. If you haven't seen Decade live yet, you're definitely missing something great, and I highly recommend you change that now. 

'Daisy May' was definitely my favourite song that they performed - the first of the two new ones - which sounded like a perfect blend between Kids In Glass Houses and Lower Than Atlantis. With so many great UK pop-rock bands calling it a day in the last year (Save Your Breath, Canterbury and Me Vs Hero to name but a few) there's definitely a big gap to be filled, and I'm certain that Decade are going to step up and fill it. 'Brand New Again' also sounded great, and the two new songs stood out from the set in such a way that it displayed how much Decade have grown since their first album release - they're a more mature band now, they know more about what they're doing and they're not afraid to take some risks and shake things up a bit.

The rest of the set was a standard Decade show, and while that is not a negative thing it also didn't surpass either of the new songs. I can't wait for album two to be released, because it's going to kick down some doors and really open up some new possibilities for Decade, and they definitely deserve it. A self-confessed support band who rarely play headline shows, it's time for them to start selling out some rooms of their own, and that day can't come soon enough. 

Setlist: 

Good Luck

Callous

Fool's Gold

Daisy May

Brand New Again

Brainfreeze

I Don't Care

Never Enough

Coffin 

Homebound

Low 

Fake Teeth

Woke

British Weather

Moose Blood - The Vic Swindon, 08/03/15

If you've read my blog in the past, you might know that back in November I saw Moose Blood supporting Mallory Knox. They put on an amazing performance, so when it was announced that they were playing a show in my hometown of Swindon, there was no question in my mind that I needed to be there.

Opening band, With Ghosts, are local lads from Swindon, meaning that I've seen them in the past - including back in October, supporting Decade. The fact that I could remember quite a few of their songs, despite having heard them for the last time nearly six months ago, is a huge pointer towards the fact that they can definitely write catchy songs. However, whether due to time constraints or just an lack of confidence, they didn't shine as much tonight as I'd been hoping they would. Don't get me wrong, they still performed well! But there was hardly any interaction with the crowd, and instead of having an audible break between songs to allowed for an applause break, the guitars carried on in a way that meant the crowd were clapping throughout the start of the following song. Instead of having the audience eating out of the palm of their hands, they seemed to be making the entire situation rather uncomfortable, which was a crying shame. Similarly, throughout the entirety of one of their last songs there was painful guitar feedback; whether due to a problem with the band or the venue, I'm not completely sure, but something was definitely wrong with the set. However, I still have all of my fingers crossed that they will release an EP in the next few months, because I still have their lyrics stuck in my head from last night and I want to get a physical copy of their songs!

Second band of the night were Southampton's Creeper, a band who I hadn't listened to before but who I'd definitely heard of; they were featured in Kerrang!'s Introducing feature a few months ago, as well as Rock Sound's '59 bands you need in your life right now' (which is usually completely spot on), and they played at Takedown Festival on Saturday, after which vocalist Will Gould ended up falling down his stairs after the band drank one hundred beers between them, which was a hilarious tale. I was highly anticipating their set and I was not disappointed. Bursting out on to the stage with 'We Had A Pact', I was instantly gripped by their explosive and frenetic show, with Will hardly spending a moment standing still. Throughout their set they played their self-titled EP in full and it definitely demonstrated that the band have much variety in their songs, even though they only played five of them. Closer 'Novena' was a strange choice after such an adrenaline-filled pop punk set, as it has quite a slow beginning and gradual build up which could have been an asset at one of their headline shows, but seemed to make the crowd antsy and disinterested. The song was beautiful, soaring in a way that showed a band that are definitely holding their heads above the crowd, but it just seemed an awkward ending song for a live set. As the song built up and kicked back in again it definitely drew a lot of the audience back in, but quite a few of them seemed difficult to win back, which sucked for the guys. As they get more experienced with touring I'm sure they'll get better at building setlists, because I do think 'Novena' would fit very well in the middle of a set, but that's something that will come with time. Seeing as they haven't even been a band for that long and their songs are already being picked up by Radio One, I'm sure it won't be too long until these guys are headlining their own shows. 

Setlist: 

We Had A Pact

Gloom

VCR

Into The Black

Novena

Main event, Moose Blood, were definitely the main attraction for the majority of the crowd, who surged forwards and started singing every word the second that they stepped on to the stage. For a band who have supported Mallory Knox and are appearing on Warped Tour in USA this summer, it makes literally no sense to me that they decided to play a venue of this size, but I absolutely love the fact that I managed to experience it. All of the gigs that I've been to in Swindon have had a distinct lack of crowd surfing or stage diving, but that changed last night with the most hectic gig I've experienced in the town. The majority of the set was comprised of songs off of their debut full length album, 'I'll Keep You In Mind, From Time To Time', so it wasn't too surprising that people were singing along to every word as it's been quite well promoted, but even older tracks 'Stay Here' and 'Evening Coffee', only available on vinyl, were gobbled up by the audience who seemed even more invigorated by these surprising additions to the set. With vocalist Eddy Brewerton telling the crowd that the band didn't write a setlist for the concert, so were just guessing, this might explain some of the lesser known choices, but I applaud them for playing them, and playing them excellently. In fact, the entire set was played excellently: Eddy's vocals were on point, as usual, and musically they are all completely in sync, not giving any room for error. 

I'm glad that Moose Blood aren't a band who have forgotten their roots during their speedy rise, and that was cemented even further when Eddy bashfully stated "thank you so much for coming down. I know it's late, and it's a Sunday..." when really I'm sure that this set is the highlight of many attendants weeks. It's always good when a band become successful very quickly and it doesn't go to their heads, but I really want to see Moose Blood accept that people are quickly falling in love with them, and they definitely shouldn't doubt it. If you haven't heard of Moose Blood, you need to jump on board soon. Their brand of emo-punk has gotten them lots of attention in America, and if you don't listen to them soon you'll regret it when they're selling out venues five or six times the size of The Vic. This was one of the best gigs I've ever attended in Swindon, and it will take a hell of a lot to beat it in the future. 

Setlist:

Bukowski

Swim Down

Pups

Chin Up

Stay Here

Evening Coffee

I Hope You're Missing Me

Gum

I Hope You're Miserable

Boston