Tonight’s gig started with alternative indie band Carpark! Having not seen them in over a year, it was great to hear their newer songs off their latest EP ‘Born To be average’ live. Their set started off strong with ‘M.I.A.’ bringing the energy and setting the tone for the evening before leading into ‘Blow Me Outta The Water’, ‘The World Ended in 2012’ and ‘Not The Perfect Start’. Then it was time to slow things down a bit with their latest single ‘Happy on Mars’ before bringing the energy right back up with title track ‘Born To Be Average’ and ‘Don’t Want You’ before ending on a high with ‘Suburbs Of Hell’. Their music has a nostalgic early 2000’s feel to it with upbeat drums, grungy guitar riffs and catchy vocals. This band is seriously being slept on and was a great warm up for such a fun gig.
October Drift
Going into October Drift’s set, I didn’t really know what to expect, having never listened to their music before but as soon as they came on stage, I knew I was in for a good show. They brought all their energy from the very first note. Their entire set was upbeat with every band member giving it their all on stage (and in the crowd). Starting off strong with ‘Demons’, the whole band was jumping all over the stage with bright flashing lights to really elevate the crowd’s experience. Next up was ‘Tyrannosaurus Wreck’ and by their second song, they already had the whole crowd in the palm of their hands. Everyone had their arms in the air and were jumping and headbanging along which is very rare for a Norwich crowd!
I now completely understand why everyone was rushing to get to the barrier first! The rest of their set remained upbeat with every song being completely different but all with the same distinct sound bringing them together, catchy build ups before big breakdowns with singer, Kiran Roy, effortlessly switching between super clean and raw vocals, fully portraying the song’s emotions. Next up was a whole load of songs that I really enjoyed, so much so I can’t choose a favourite so I’m just going to list them all here for you to check out yourself; ‘Webcam Funerals’, ‘Hollow’, ‘Blame the Young’, ‘Waltzer’, ‘Bleed’, ‘Insects’ and ‘Airbourne Panic Attack’. All these songs really have an edge to them showing how much raw emotion and effort October Drift put into making them.
But the night was not over yet, October Drift had a few more songs for us. Kiran Roy spent about as much time in the crowd interacting with fans as he did on stage, having jumped over the barrier into the crowd several times already, he decided to do a lap of the room crowd surfing before making his way back to the stage. Guitarist, Dan Young also had a turn climbing up onto the speaker and off into the crowd to perform his guitar solo too. Kiran then grabbed his guitar before yelling “I’m going back in” and jumping back into the pit with the mic stand in tow this time too. He urged the fans to crowd around and hold up their phone torches while he sang ‘Not Running Anymore’ before running back to the stage for the last breakdown.
I would definitely recommend seeing them on their ‘Blame The Young’ tour if you can! As I said before I’ve never seen such a lively hyped-up crowd in Norwich before and they certainly put on a show! I would definitely go and see them again and I now have lots of new music to add to my playlists!
Artists: Carpark!, October Drift