On a cold Wednesday evening I headed to the Dalston Victoria to see one of the most thrilling emerging bands of the year, Stags. The band was formed in 2011 by the singer, Chris Finney, lead guitarist Alessio Pesaresi, drummer George Vallack, and bassist Oisin Walsh (who wasn’t performing with the band this time and was replaced by the guy from Acid Tongue). Surprisingly, the venue was nearly empty at the beginning, but before Stags hit the stage the crowd grew bigger and bigger.
The band jumped on stage at 10pm sharp, and immediately raised the temperature on this freezing cold night up to 40 degrees, and set a fire with their grungy, kinda 70s riffs, mixed with Chris’s deep and very bluesy vocals. The microphone looked like the one used by the old fellow Elvis Presley in mid 50s/60s. The perfect one for a rock and roll king!
Chris was touching his mic like it was a very sexy lady. Hearing his deep voice you could absolutely get chills on your back! These guys totally feel the music in their hearts. Stags definitely can tease your ears until you get the most pleasurable music orgasm. They played some of the new stuff as well as their good, old songs like ‘Just Like You’ or the strong and energetic ‘Stealing My Heart’.
At the very end Chris jumped off the stage into the crowd with the mic and absolutely zoned out! It was like he was possessed by the music! Finney shouted out most of the song and gesticulated a lot in the crowd.
The performance was so raw and passionate! The guitarist was literally lying on the floor while he played one of the last songs, and George couldn’t stop shredding on his drums! If you see Stags play live once, you automatically get addicted, and no doubt you will want more and more of their buzzy, garage sounds! They will drag you into their dark shed and your heart will get locked up with these deep, modern blues vocals combined with the loud, very sharp and heavy guitar riffs.
The band is playing the famous Camden venue, the Monarch, on April 28. If you haven’t had a chance to catch them yet, do it. Not many bands are so wild!
-Emilia Slupecka
Heatwave Magazine 