Turbowolf, Loom, and Beasts bring an action-packed night at Islington Academy

By Nathan Lucking, London Correspondent

Venue: Islington Academy, London on October 29, 2015    Bands: Loom, Turbowolf, Beasts

Before the bands take to the stage the crowd is in good spirits, laughing and chatting in groups by the barriers, bars and, walls. About ten minutes before the first act are scheduled to take to the stage there is a fairly constant trickle of people entering the venue.

Loom opening up the evening with their breed of energy enthused melodic indie new wave , it took half a song to really feel the groove they were traveling but once there the show was a very enjoyable.

There is always the risk of a boot to the head when in the photo pit, crowd surfers are an occupational hazard for us all as Metalhead, normally however your not too worried about anyone from the stage getting a boot near your head – not with Loom, keep an eye on them or they will distract you with some showy solo from the lead guitarist and then the lead singer will jump full body over your head and into the crowd (no, I didn’t get a picture but I was thinking new underwear wasn’t a bad call after that)

The atmosphere was really started to heat up after the first two songs, most there were for Turbowolf but were open to something new,  the two support acts for the evening had been well selected for that job.

By the end of the first band the venue had a real atmosphere about it, everyone was here to have some good fun and a bit of a dance – probably spurred on slightly by Loom’s lead singers desire to find a dance partner during his multiple trips to the pit. In true rock and roll fashion, he leapt from behind his monitor straight into the middle of the pit. It was quite a thing to watch – even more so when he jumped directly over my head…

Beasts are a London alt-rock three piece with a new wave edge and a energy juxtaposition on stage in the form of their almost none stop Duracell bunny of a bassists whose longest stop on a single spot was when he used the kick drum as a foot rest, played a few bars, or when posing quickly for some of the press photographers at the front of the stage. Opposite to him, the lead singer was taking his lessons from a different book with short bursts of energy in the form of head banging from his short tether to his mic stand.

The band were recording their set that night as such we look forward to seeing some new live footage in some upcoming music videos or a tour video (once the tour is actually over).

A lost of the energy from the bands set was produced by cleaver use of stage lighting to create atmosphere and energy through strobes because who doesn’t like a good light show in time with the noisy grunge-esk guitar riffs.

It wasn’t hard to tell what the crowd wanted, they kept chanting it encase you missed it “Turbowolf, Turbowolf, Turbowolf!…” after being stirred into a state a heightened excitement by the opening acts all their energies were now singularly focused on the stars of the evenings show and their hard to pigeon hole sound – is it rock, alternative, or metal? They have influences from all of those and more so who knows? And it didn’t seem to matter to anyone at the venue so I’m going to stop worrying about it too – taking to the stage with the confidence and prowess of a hardened performers they wasted not a second, Chris Georgiadis taking the opportunity whilst his bands mates get settled to say “hello” to nearly every member of the crowd pressed against the barriers before lunching in to their first track with the same gusto they maintained for the whole set.

Playing hit after hit, the whole place was involved in some way be that dancing, moshing or singing along with their favorite track, with a set list stuffed with fan favorites that should not have been a problem for anyone. The band weren’t going to let the fans have all the fun, they them selves had a what looked to be a very effective work out using every inch of the stage to jump on/off of, dance on or power stance on.

PHOTO GALLERY

 

 

TURBOWOLF

BEASTS

LOOM

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