SWMRS, Dead! and Brawlers at Bristol's Thekla 07/09/2016 - REVIEW

Cole Becker - SWMRS

Thekla, Bristol

07/09/2016

With wallets getting emptier and pay packs getting smaller our industry is constantly coming up with new ways of making live music more accessible to more people and recently co-headline deals and multi-name line-ups have proved to be a pretty genius way of doing it.

As those line-ups go, it doesn’t get more exciting than Brawlers, Dead! and SWMRS, on a boat no less, and that’s exactly what happened at Bristol’s Thekla on September 7^th.

If the crowd thought that they were in for an easy ride with Brawlers, well that would make them wrong. Their set was a montage of everything a band could possibly get a crowd to do.

Harry Johns - Brawlers

Thekla, Bristol

07/09/2016

• ·         Wall of death under strict instructions NOT to mosh or “any of that shit”? Yep.
• ·         Crowd running rings around a horizontal Harry Johns? That too.
• ·         Trust-falling from the balcony? You bet.
• ·         Having everybody run from one side of the boat to the other in an attempt to literally rock it. Of course that happened.

The recklessness in the pit was well and truly matched on stage with an emblematic energy that lastedDay Job, from this year’s The Black EP, is a solid choice. Coincidentally that track really touches a nerve at Louder Now HQ right now.

all night long. If you’re looking for a place to start with these guys,

It’s safe to say that few have had a better year than Dead! Arguably the best young band on the planet, and without a doubt the most hyped, the London four-piece can’t seem to put a foot wrong. But guys, the hype is real, Dead! ARE unbelievably exciting.

Alex Mountford -Dead!

Thekla, Bristol

07/09/2016

After smashing their way through a fair few festivals this summer (a couple of which we caught)

Dead! were ready to bring their assured aesthetic back indoors. From the lamps and flower bunches on stage to the unabashed nature of their raucous tunes, I can get on board with every aspect of this band.

You’re So Cheap, released earlier this year, has quickly and justly become a firm crowd-pleaser but latest track Something More Original confirmed that Dead! are only getting better and at this rate it won’t be long until they run this scene. You can watch the new video for Something More Original right here. 

But the celebration of sheer young talent did not end there. SWMRS vocalist and guitarist, Cole Becker turned 21 just yesterday (Happy Birthday Cole!) but the bands list of achievements looks more like that of an act 21-years into their career.

SWMRS have also hit up their fair share of festivals this summer as well as recording a live session for Annie Mac’s Radio One Show, performing live for Zane Lowe’s Beat 1 show in LA and releasing their debut album Drive North in February on their very own label, Uncool Records.

SWMRS

Thekla, Bristol

07/09/2016

Their whole set screamed California punk, a distinctiveness that SWMRS have whole heartedly embraced bringing all of the verve and raw edge that comes with it through to their set. Debut single Miley is as punk-rock-anthem as they come and newly released track Figuring It Out has had crowds woah-oh-ing their hearts out on both sides of the Atlantic.

For a line-up of bands that are still in the early stages of their anticipative careers there was a remarkable amount of talent on the stage. The night felt like one that this crowd will be bringing up for years to come, when these bands are heading up main stages and touring arena’s we’ll always remember the night we saw them on a boat in Bristol.

All images taken by Lauren-Alice Photography - thank you Lauren! 

SWMRS, Dead! and Brawlers at Bristol's Thekla 07/09/2016 - REVIEW

Cole Becker - SWMRS

Thekla, Bristol

07/09/2016

With wallets getting emptier and pay packs getting smaller our industry is constantly coming up with new ways of making live music more accessible to more people and recently co-headline deals and multi-name line-ups have proved to be a pretty genius way of doing it.

As those line-ups go, it doesn’t get more exciting than Brawlers, Dead! and SWMRS, on a boat no less, and that’s exactly what happened at Bristol’s Thekla on September 7^th.

If the crowd thought that they were in for an easy ride with Brawlers, well that would make them wrong. Their set was a montage of everything a band could possibly get a crowd to do.

Harry Johns - Brawlers

Thekla, Bristol

07/09/2016

• ·         Wall of death under strict instructions NOT to mosh or “any of that shit”? Yep.
• ·         Crowd running rings around a horizontal Harry Johns? That too.
• ·         Trust-falling from the balcony? You bet.
• ·         Having everybody run from one side of the boat to the other in an attempt to literally rock it. Of course that happened.

The recklessness in the pit was well and truly matched on stage with an emblematic energy that lastedDay Job, from this year’s The Black EP, is a solid choice. Coincidentally that track really touches a nerve at Louder Now HQ right now.

all night long. If you’re looking for a place to start with these guys,

It’s safe to say that few have had a better year than Dead! Arguably the best young band on the planet, and without a doubt the most hyped, the London four-piece can’t seem to put a foot wrong. But guys, the hype is real, Dead! ARE unbelievably exciting.

Alex Mountford -Dead!

Thekla, Bristol

07/09/2016

After smashing their way through a fair few festivals this summer (a couple of which we caught)

Dead! were ready to bring their assured aesthetic back indoors. From the lamps and flower bunches on stage to the unabashed nature of their raucous tunes, I can get on board with every aspect of this band.

You’re So Cheap, released earlier this year, has quickly and justly become a firm crowd-pleaser but latest track Something More Original confirmed that Dead! are only getting better and at this rate it won’t be long until they run this scene. You can watch the new video for Something More Original right here. 

But the celebration of sheer young talent did not end there. SWMRS vocalist and guitarist, Cole Becker turned 21 just yesterday (Happy Birthday Cole!) but the bands list of achievements looks more like that of an act 21-years into their career.

SWMRS have also hit up their fair share of festivals this summer as well as recording a live session for Annie Mac’s Radio One Show, performing live for Zane Lowe’s Beat 1 show in LA and releasing their debut album Drive North in February on their very own label, Uncool Records.

SWMRS

Thekla, Bristol

07/09/2016

Their whole set screamed California punk, a distinctiveness that SWMRS have whole heartedly embraced bringing all of the verve and raw edge that comes with it through to their set. Debut single Miley is as punk-rock-anthem as they come and newly released track Figuring It Out has had crowds woah-oh-ing their hearts out on both sides of the Atlantic.

For a line-up of bands that are still in the early stages of their anticipative careers there was a remarkable amount of talent on the stage. The night felt like one that this crowd will be bringing up for years to come, when these bands are heading up main stages and touring arena’s we’ll always remember the night we saw them on a boat in Bristol.

All images taken by Lauren-Alice Photography - thank you Lauren! 

Eliza and The Bear performed a magical set at Bristol's Thekla

Eliza and the Bear
Thekla, Bristol
14/04/2016
Photo Credit: Lauren-Alice Golding

Seeing Eliza and the Bear has been on my “INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT TO DO LIST” since we criminally missed their set at Glasgow’s Hydro Arena last year. Since the London quintet just released their debut, self-titled, album I decided enough was enough, the time had come. I would see Eliza and The Bear at Bristol’s Thekla on April 14^th 2016.  The timing, as it turned out, was perfect.

At Louder Now we are no strangers to impromptu and slightly lengthy (yet never excessive) road trips. Whilst our jaunt to Bristol was by no means the most extravagant of these journey’s it might just have been the most bizarre.

Somewhere between castles that were actually train stations, closed roads that were actually open and boats that were actually gig venues I lost my mind and fell in love with the place.

Chris Brand - Bass
Thekla, Bristol
14/04/2016
Photo Credit: Lauren-Alice Golding

One of my favourite things about Bristol is that my very talented friend, Miss Lauren-Alice Golding,

lives just up the road, a situation that I took full advantage of. Lauren grabbed her 3-tonne camera and met me at the castle/train station for our first ever (and first of many please) collaboration!

And it’s just as well she did because the emotional rollercoaster that Eliza and the Bear were about to take me on was definitely not a ride to take solo.

My new favourite song, “Light It Up”, originally released on the 2014 EP of the same name and now sitting mid-way through the new album, kicked off the party. It’s the most upbeat, positive and encouraging track I have heard in a long time, the ultimate summer anthem and the perfect opener.

I adore that optimistic inclination that saturates everything that Eliza and the Bear do but it’s how they twist, variate and distort (key) which makes them special. “Make It On My Own” is a paramount example of this, a backdrop teetering on the verge of morose but still maintaining an affirmative energy and tempo to reduce you to tears. If you’re crying by song number two then you know the set’s magic.

Martin Dukelow - Guitar
Thekla, Bristol
14/04/2016
Photo Credit: Lauren-Alice Golding

Crowd participation is what takes a show from being great to being absolutely unbelievable, and we weren’t short of it tonight. Nevertheless the band challenged the audience with song “Where Have You Been” instructing them that it was their chance to prove that they had the album. It’s fair to say the audience passed the test.

Aside from the fact that it’s a blinding song with a parade-esque marching band beat, I have a huge appreciation for “Brother’s Boat” because live it was dynamite and also…we were on a mother flipping boat!

And just in case you doubted the bands determination (which I don’t think a single member of the crowd did for one second of this entire set) it’s worth remembering that vocalist James Kellegher asked his doting audience if they were “going to sink this ship or what?”

Whilst the tempo setting drum track from Paul Jackson maintains that addictive energy and Callie Noake’s keys add the optimistic tingles it’s the scratching guitars from Martin Dukelow that adds depth and sets Eliza and the Bear apart from the indie crowd.

James Kellegher - Guitar/Vocals
Thekla, Bristol
14/04/2016
Photo Credit: Lauren-Alice Golding

Live “Oxygen” was the best display of all of those attributes as well as a relentlessness where you could be sure that you’re being set up for a tempo drop that never, ever, comes.

Just as I was ready to declare that this performance could not possible get any more emotionally

charged Eliza and the Bear went and nailed a spine-tingling, tear-inducing, mobiles-and-lighters-up acoustic track that near enough broke my heart. For me, “Cruel” has been filed away in the playlist entitled “Beautiful songs that I must never listen to”.

After an equally beautiful chant of “YOU DIRTY SOUTHERN BASTARDS” the boys came back to play their defining tracks “It Gets Cold” and “Friends” to all the love, support and participation that a crowd can possibly give.

It was a remarkable set that, despite my months of waiting, really took me by surprise. If I ever get a chance to see Eliza and the Bear at a summer festival I will grab it with both hands because I honestly cannot think of anything that would be better.

But they are not just that summer band that you adore for festival season and then forget about. Eliza and the Bear are producing deeply meaningful and inspirational work and their live shows are nothing short of electric.

Martin Dukelow - Guitars
Thekla, Bristol
14/04/2016
Photo Credit: Lauren-Alice Golding

Eliza and the Bear are a band that you need in your life. When the stresses of work, dreams, friends, family and life have dimmed your internal lights you’ll be thankful that Eliza and the Bear are there to do what they do best and light it up.

Thankfully I can tell you that Eliza and the Bear did not sink Bristol’s Thekla. But my word did they try.

Huge thanks to Lauren-Alice Photography who took all of the stunning photos shown as well as shooting and editing this weeks Grab Bag video! She can be contacted HERE!