This is my first time reviewing a live gig (Hi Mum!).
I’m usually confined to doing the visual stuff: gig flyers, illustrations and (career-definingly) Heatwave’s last cover. But I’m a fan of the Useless Eaters and was enticed with a guest spot, (hey, that’s worth two whole pints at the Shacklewell). So here we go…

I started off by missing the Mystrys. My appologies to Mystrys and their fans. Once in, my first impression was the great sound engineering at the venue. It carried the base guitar so well, it made me want to tap my feet to every garage song (which most people seemed to be doing).

I’m usually skeptical of bands sporting the Dalston favourite condom-beanie on stage, but Thee MVPs were so darn energetic I soon forgot about the styling. They pointed out that most of their songs are about ‘Wrestling, not time travel’ in case there was any ambiguity on the subject. My favourite was ‘Causality’ whose twangy guitar lines reminded me of The Strokes.

The Eaters played a great set. My favourite being ‘American Cars’ and ‘Hidden Fees’ although I’m disappointed they didn’t include ‘Addicted to the Blade’. Half way through, Seth Sutton knocked a drink over his expensive looking array of effects pedals and set list. Panicking, he flicked the cup and remaining liquid out into the audience. They finished it off with a cover of a Fall song so moody and hypnotic that the increasingly sweaty audience seemed to collectively float away under the canopy of giant cardboard daisies adoring the ceiling.

In the name of fairness I tried to test public opinion post gig. The general impression from the bearded and beanie’d folk was that Thee MVPS outperformed the Eaters in terms of sheer enthusiasm, but everyone agreed the Yankees did a good job.

Only one surveyed punter was dissatisfied with the headliners. ‘When I saw the event I got all excited. But then I realised it wasn’t The Nervous Eaters playing. I came anyway, but I still wish it was them…’

I had fun.

Ika Lesniak