MAGAT MUSIC
Name – Mopes
Date – Tenth of Febuary 2023
Location – Amershem Arms
There is an undeniable energy that surrounds Mopes, the music, performance and look invites this addictive sense of self loss, to become one with the band, with their artistic statement. The apprehension behind the first chord, the anticipation as the audience waited for permission from the band. This engagement, the dynamic between performer and audience, is what mopes excelled at live.
Mixing harsh guitar tones, heavy drums and gorgeous riffs, listening to mopes feels the perfect blend of so many different styles, a melting pot of interesting ideas and genuinely compassionate heartfelt lyrics. Their love of abrupt stops for emphasis pairs perfectly with the infectious melodies on lead guitar and the fuzz from the bass. This sound has a deliberate roughness that hides a lot of the underlying complexity and heart. This subdefuge makes Mopes such an interesting band to watch, they present these musical ideas and let you explore the sonic landscape yourself.
Mopes had a certain charm to their live performance, pooling the right amount of energy into each song. Every member of the band adding to the slick image and to movement on stage, chaotic when it needs, but equally tight and controlled when it needs to be.
There is a magnanimous romantic notion to their performance, drawing the eye and the ear Mopes exhibits the very peak live music and hold your attention until they decide you’ve had enough.
In three words: Energetic Polished Style
Name – Meg Noya
Date – Tenth of Febuary 2023
Location – Amershem Arms
Meg Noya, presents a musical tidal wave of powerful pop rock with such casual abandon that you oft forget the massive amounts of talent on display. That is to say the presentation of this performance is so well refined and the atmosphere on stage was so relaxed that it just feels natural, the music no different to the air we breathe or the tree outside, a natural part of the world that always has been and aways will.
Featuring classic guitar tones and drums with just the right dynamic ranges paired with slick bass lines and singing that dominates in all the right ways. Everything you could want all turned up to 11 and garnished with deep lyricism that you can chant along to. The relationship on stage- the pure joy that each member expressed- really made the performance something special, the intimacy that comes from a close band radiated from the stage.
The maturity and confidence that oozes from every aspect of their performance is incredibly impressive and I personally can’t wait to hear how this sound evolves.
In three words: Gigantic Soaring Heart
Name – Darf Lucas
Date – Tenth of Febuary 2023
Location – Amershem Arms
To say you watched Darflucas perform a set is to entirely miss the point and under sell the experience. An event utterly devoid of your traditional audio-visual expectations from a solo artist. Darf Lucas, accompanied by a guitar and quite possibly the nastiest sounding pedalboard, bombards the audience with a wave of soothing melodies, and blasting riffs all over the place with lyrical content that strikes deep into the emotional turmoil of us all.
There was a great deal of confidence on display, the way Darf Lucas manoeuvred around the stage, his guitar and the pedals showed a great deal of skill. There was an impromptu grace to a lot of the movement, these subtle switch presses and large gaps of dwindling and value changing made for this asemetitic dance that was endlessly captivating. But the smiles and the jokes being quipped throughout the performance really proved, to me at least, that this is where they should be, that this music is what they want to do. And it’s what I wanted to hear.
The most important take away from Darf Lucas’s set was the emotion behind it, the pure heartfelt love for the music. The devastating writing and dynamic range were incredible to experience live and as each song progressed there was more weight added, more pressure that would build until the eventual release, the howling of noise and screams, a cacophony so exact in its wild delivery. Watching the set was a like watching the purest form of art, maybe a little rough around the edges, but the purity, the passion more than makes up for any shortcomings.
In three words: Viscerouly distilled humanity
Name – Townhouse
Date – Twentieth of January 2023
Location – The Stag’s head 55 Orsman Rd,N1 5RA
Townhouse’s performance to celebrate their new single “Eloquent” at The Stag’s Head on the twentieth was unquestionably a success. Performing to a sizeable crowd, the band presented around forty minutes of precise well thought out and excellently presented indie rock.
Snarky writing celebrating the ennui and chaos of modern life with just the right amount of tongue and cheek, impeccable melodies sliding effortlessly between the bass, drums and keys, exhilarating dynamics that kept the crowd engaged and all the energy to maintain this sound for the set.
The size of the stage struggled to handle all five members, stuck in place like the terricota army, limiting the movement of the band, but the intimate nature for both performer and audience definitely added to the sound. Townhouse were in their element come the end of the set, the performative qualities on display, the charisma, talent and passion captivated the sweaty cramped .The final songs really sold the band as a cohesive, rather enjoyable, unit.
Townhouse presented the real joy of live performance, a distilled look into the creative imagination of another presented with passion and energy that transmutes and lives within a captivated audience. And that is what Townhouse showed me and everyone else at the Stagshead.
In three words: Witty Sardonic Fun