A hectic 7-gig (currently, who knows?) May kicks off with a two-in-two’er, the first leg being a midweek jaunt down to the South Coast to see October Drift, Taunton’s finest purveyors of dynamic and dramatic grunge/ shoegaze wall-of-noise collision, and rapidly becoming one of the highlights of any gigging year due to a slew of incendiary “live” performances, hopefully set to continue tonight. This current tour, ending tonight, did pass closer to the ‘Don, particularly last Tuesday in Oxford, but I couldn’t resist the opportunity to see one of my increasingly favourite “live” bands in probably my favourite venue, The Joiners positively reeking of scuzzy rock’n’roll tradition. Like old 90’s/00’s “live” favourites Seafood at this very venue (gigs 450 and 706), this should be a match made in indie rock heaven. Let’s see…
A happily unencumbered blast down the M4/A34 got me parking up just after doors; since my last visit, a proliferation of double yellows have appeared in my usual street parking spots, but there’s a car park round the corner, so I can’t really complain… grabbed an easy spot near the front, house right and watched the place slowly fill around me, before support, Brighton 3-piece Snake Eyes, bounded onstage stage at 8.15 to the “Wallace and Gromit” theme tune! They set their stall out pretty much immediately with opener “Happy Pills”, a raw 70’s NYC Stooges punk stomper recalling The Subways or my mate Rich Carter’s short-lived band My Social Decline, continuing to tick boxes for me with a racier “40 Winks”, and the slow-burn languid laze-grunge of “Scuttlebug”, one of those numbers which, if you played it on record, would fool you into thinking it was on the wrong speed! The 70’s punk anti-billionaires protest of “No Cars” saw vocalist Jim leap into the crowd for his vocals, and after the drummer gave a shout out to several worthy causes (trans rights and Greenpeace amongst them), “No One Is Truly Cool” was dedicated to Wolf Alice’s bassist for allegedly being a bit of a dick to the band at Reading 2021! A raw-boned and hard-rocking set played with determination and dynamism was capped with the penultimate best-of-set “Wishbone”, a frantic thrash recalling Adorable’s “Favourite Fallen Idol”. Decent start!
A quick trip back to the car to dump my hoody, then a merch-stand chat with SE vocalist Jim, getting the full skinny on the Wolf Alice incident (nosy git!), before getting my spot back. About ¾ full, this, which I guess is a decent turnout for a Thursday, but this band absolutely deserve much, much more! The witching hour approached, and a lone mic-stand was set up in the middle of the floor, then sure enough, the lights went dark and vocalist/ guitarist Kiron Roy emerged from the back of the venue, delivering a mournful solo “Ever After”, with the band, unseen, taking the stage and filling in during its’ denouement. Then Kiron joined them onstage for the launch into a soaring, tremendous “Lost Without You” and we were away…
There’s a case to be argued for October Drift to be just about the most incendiary “live” band around right now, certainly a band whose intense “live” performances elevate their already-bloody-ace-actually huge-chorused shimmering grungy shoegaze material to seismic, earth-shaking new heights. And the movement? I’ve not seen a band consistently deliver such ferociously kinetic, all-action performances since the heady 00’s days of Seafood and The Gravel Pit, even…! The angular backbeat and trademark stratospheric hook of “Losing My Touch” saw the first of many forays by the vocalist back into the crowd, then “Don’t Give Me Hope” was a widescreen wallowing mood changer before a couple of newies, the Bunnymen-esque atmospherics of “Hollow” and the dramatic ascending verse of an utterly tremendous “Blame The Young”. Kiron (who throughout urged the crowd to come closer, get more involved) played conductor to the audience call-and-response “don’t think I’m coming back” hook of “Waltzer”; “Airborne Panic Attack” was all seething power and drama; and set closer “Oh The Silence” again saw Kiron in the middle of the mosh, as I abandoned my front row spot and moshed with him!
Drummer Chris Holmes then took a
vote (“lets do this like we’re at school”) for the encore, he and Kiron
delivering the winning “Like The Snow We Fall” a-cappella in the round,
surrounded by the devoted singing along reverentially to the hook. A beautiful,
heart-tugging moment to end another quite startling gig from this special band.
Brief chats with the band members, who seemed to remember me from recent gigs
which was nice, then I sweatily hit the road for a return to the ‘Don just
after midnight. They’re back on tour in the Autumn, and on this form, that’s also
one not to be missed!
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