Los Angeles pop rockers Hey Violet return to please their adoring fans in the intimate venue that is London’s The Garage. It’s an odd crowd with the front half of the venue packed with young fans who burst into a crescendo of screaming at any slight movement on stage. The back half of the venue, luckily where the bar is situated is occupied by parents who are happy to stand back and let their kids lose their minds.
Just when you think the screaming couldn’t get any louder the stage is plunged into darkness and the decibel levels explode as the band walk on stage one by one to huge cheers. The small stage seems to contain the five band members, with bass player Iain Shipp somewhat hiding in the corner behind Miranda Miller on keys. Luckily vocalist Rena Lovelis has more than enough room to roam around the stage, much to the crowds delight.
Lovelis’ vocals are equally as good live as they are on record, if not better and as a front woman she’s exceptional. Collecting a bunch of flowers from a member of the crowd she proceeds to throw these into the crowd one by one during ‘ODD’. The standout track of the evening comes in the shape of ‘Unholy’, which is highly reminiscent of 90’s No Doubt and easily the heaviest track of the night.
Playing through a set of just over an hour they manage to play through all but three tracks from their upcoming album ‘From the Outside’. In a quite hilarious moment they even play through ‘Hoodie’ twice explaining before they do that they’ll be filming it for a live video and the crowd duly go wild both times. The crowd also go insane for a cover of Ed Sheeran’s ‘Shape of You’ which is arguably better than the original.
It’s hard not to see the comparisons between Lovelis and Gwen Stefani that have been talked about widely and going on tonight’s show, Hey Violet have all the potential to be equally as big as their counterparts. Previously they’ve attracted a stigma of being purely a pop band for the younger generations, being associated with Australian band 5 Seconds of Summer, but the synth heavy sound they create almost transports you back to the 80s, a time beyond their years. Coupled with their ever increasing fan base Hey Violet are most definitely a band with infinite potential, watch this space.
CHRISTOPHER LEE
