SQUID
of “Welcome to the best new sixpart Danish crime drama” kicking off the set. Debut track ‘Athen’s, France’ creeps over the crowd as their darkened punk builds up to its apocalyptic climax keeping the audience gripped with every snarling guitar lick. Running upstairs to the Skybar, up and comer Alfie Templeman is joking that he’s performing without a band because they’re all in detention, a nod to the fact that he’s still a teenager. Reeling through his hip-hop tinged indie-pop bops, the rising star races through tracks from 2018’s ‘Like An Animal’ EP and June follow-up ‘Sunday Morning Cereal’.
BLOXX
Strolling down the Reeperbahn to the Imperial Theater, Celeste sees the night off with her mesmerising soulful singing. Based in Brighton, her alluring vocals have seen her garner comparisons to Amy Winehouse, and catching her IRL it’s clear to see why. Opener ‘Father’s Son’ and ‘Beloved’ leave everyone awestruck. Going into Friday, Brooklyn-via-Dublin’s Sorcha Richardson is starting the day off right with her effortless lo-fi indie rock. Her performance takes place on top of a bar, the audience spread out on deck chairs below in the chillest gig set-up we’ve seen for a while. Although the weather hints at an impending downpour, Sorcha’s delicate yet impactful songwriting shines through, as she wows with tracks like ‘False Alarm’ and ‘Ruin Your Night’.
MATTIEL
DO NOTHING
Later in the evening, North London’s Sorry take to the stage at Molotow Skybar. The DIY Class of 2018 alums impress as they always do, with co-vocalists Asha Lorenz and Louis O’Brien delivering their signature deliciously dark sound with an exciting shimmer. Latest track ‘Jealous Guy’ - their first new music of the year - is an undeniable standout, with Louis and Asha’s sardonic vocals leading the eerie anthem and driving their drooling-pop banger with biting intensity. With the Saturday sun still ringing out, we head to the Backyard at Molotow to see Brighton postpunks Squid deliver one of the best sets of the weekend. Taking place on the one year anniversary of the release of ‘The Dial’, although they’ve not played it within their sets recently, they give the lucky audience a glimpse at what kicked it all off, playing the heavyfunk number in its brilliant entirety. Going on to play songs from recently released EP ‘Town Centre’, ‘Match Bet’ and seven-minute-masterpiece ‘The Cleaner’ are
undeniable highlights, with one of the audience even getting his wife up on FaceTime so that she doesn’t miss out. Ending on fanfave ‘Houseplants’, by the time the fantastically frantic song has ended, there’s not one person in the crowd not totally won over by the group and certain that they’ve just seen something special. Kicking off our takeover of the Molotow Club in the evening, first off are LA indie rockers together PANGEA. The quartet’s garage-punk offerings build to a sweaty climax with older classics like ‘Looked In Too’ from 2015’s ‘The Phage’ EP before set closer ‘Too Drunk To Cum’ sees the crowd go off with head-banging ferocity. Next up are Canadian duo Partner, accidentally playing the entirety of ‘Everybody Knows’ from their 2017 record ‘In Search of Last Time’ to the room during soundcheck. “There’s two ways to get into the subconscious: emotion and repetition,” they laugh before playing the weed-paranoia anthem once again for the audience. The perfect introduction to the pair - made up of Josée Caron and Lucy Niles - the track glistens with the humour and playfulness that runs throughout their entire set. Aussie singer-songwriter Ali Barter brings her power-pop to the Molotow stage next. A slight change in pace, her crystalline vocals and pop-rock backing seem like they’d slot perfectly onto an American teen surfing show soundtrack, full of shimmering grooves and sunshine-soaked sounds. Sports Team round off the night - and this year’s Reeperbahn Festival - with a characteristically charismatic performance that sees mosh pits form and pints spilled. Coming on to Robbie’s ‘Let Me Entertain You’, they deliver on that promise, reeling through their energetic hits like ‘Kutcher’ and ‘Here It Comes Again’. “You look like you’ve been to loads of gigs,” frontman Alex Rice asks a particularly badass bearded gig-goer at the front, “what do you think of this?” Diving into ‘M5’, a mosh pit gradually swirls bigger and bigger, which Alex eventually jumps into himself. Latest track ‘Fishing’ wows the audience, while yet-to-be-released ‘Races’ is yet another crowd pleaser; it’s brilliantly chaotic. Closing on ‘Stanton’, it’s the final glowing performance and further proof of Reeperbahn saving the best ’til last. (Elly Watson)
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