My preparation for this gig was less than adequate. I’d been up all night several nights beforehand frantically typing uni coursework and had completely forgotten that my cousin invited me to it, and had to drive 50 miles from Edinburgh to Glasgow running on energy juice to make it! But we made it in time, and commencing proceedings were Evarose (4/5), a four-piece all-female rock/pop outfit from Oxfordshire. Now I know the cliché with any band with a female member in it these days is to instantly compare them with Paramore, but these girls definitely have a similar vibe. Punchy, anthemic pop-punk is the score, and they don’t hold back at all on stage – at one point bassist Connie Raitt was so into it that she nearly clobbered singer Danikka Webber in the face. A special mention as well for the steely-eyed determination not to acknowledge the drunken heckle from a punter at the back of the room which had something to do with an ‘embarrassing boner’ – make of that what you will, but I wouldn’t mess with this quartet. BASS TO THE FACE OOOOOH – keep an eye oot.
Next up, Natives (3/5), whose set positively flew by. Four lads from Hampshire who clearly eat their porridge each morning dealt out a further foray into pop-punk but seemed to focus more on crowd participation – in a 35 minute set they only managed to fit in 4 songs, though this may have been somewhat due to the dance-off which broke out halfway through where anyone with moves slick enough to impress lead singer Jim Thomas cab win a photograph of the crowd doing the band’s apparent signature symbol ‘The Point’. A decent set but nothing terribly exciting.
Natives certainly got the crowd whipped into a frenzy for Mallory Knox (4/5) whose gig this is after all. Currently promoting full-length release Signals and buzzing from being announced as one of the main stage acts for Reading and Leeds this year, the quintet makes the tiny Cathouse stage seem more crowded than the room they’re playing to. This audience is as captivated by the bands newer, more radio-oriented tunes as by their older stuff; the room positively erupts at the mere mention of mellow ballad ‘1949’ from Signals, proving this is a group who can do heavy, moshable pop-punk alongside less pacey works, all the while pushing their audience’s buttons. A cracking display, and many happy returns to guitarist Joe Savins who celebrated his birthday onstage!