There’s just something about seeing JAWS in a small, quirky venue that gave me so much nostalgia.
They’re such an effortlessly cool band that makes everyone stop what they’re doing, infatuated by their sound. This was another night at the Brudenell that did not disappoint… This venue is the perfect spot for an intimate gig.
It’s a great venue for the support acts to warm-up the crowd as it’s such an intimate space that’s not too overwhelming. It’s big enough that they can play their new music to a crowd of indie fans who are eagerly waiting to get their groove on, but not too small that it lacks atmosphere: the perfect balance.
Mentioning the support acts, I was taken aback by the absolute talent that joined us on stage with the bands Swimwear and Slow Team. For such young artists, they really knew how to captivate the crowd and keep us wanting more.
Swim Wear
Swim Wear are a relatively new, 4-piece, indie band based in Leeds. Iwan Grant (Vox/Guitar), Matt Cross (Guitar), Ned Forster (Drums) and Rob Crosby (Bass) with Bruno Dickie (Keys) were the first act to join us to get the night started at around 8pm.
They brought real energy to the stage and had a great vibe with each other. You can tell the band members get along well and really enjoy what they have created together, as they were bouncing energy off one another throughout the whole set.
Their songs bring a classic, singalong indie vibe that makes you want to keep listening. Front man Iwan did a great job of keeping the audience engaged, encouraging us to have a boogie, singalong and follow them on socials. They played tracks from their EP ‘513’ as well as their new release of ‘Swimwear,’ which was my personal favourite.
Slow Team
Slow Team was next to join us on stage from around 8:45pm. It was quite refreshing to have such a juxtaposition of artists as the support for JAWS. They really brought a completely unique grungey vibe to the stage, which was in good contrast with the indie-pop that Swim Wear brought us.
Slow Team (formerly ‘Bloodhound’) describe themselves as a ‘post-modern grunge three-piece from West Yorkshire.’ And that is 100% what they delivered. The audience were completely captivated by their unique energy, sound and emotion.
The band consists of Max, Morgan and Lucy who all brought us something new with the great bonus of the rapport they shared during the set. It was incredible to see such passion and emotion being put into their
performance as Lucy melded herself into the audience by standing on the edge of the stage to perform her impressive vocals and kept us on the edge of our (rhetorical) seats.
Slow Team pulls together a grunge, electronic and acoustic vibe with songs such as ‘Vacancy’ (a personal favourite) that also felt so painfully relatable and raw, it’s obvious that their main inspirations are artists like Bon Iver, Radiohead and DIIV. The vocals in particular were very impressive; the harmonies, the snippets of acapella and the soft vocals contrasting the heavier and more powerful notes.
Fans from the crowd came up to praise the band-members are they were setting the stage and moving their equipment, so they obviously left a great impact. They definitely have an incredible future ahead of them and I’d love to hear more of them in the near future.
JAWS
After the audience had been successfully warmed-up with the contrast of boogying and moshing, it was time for the much anticipated Jaws to join us on stage.
For anyone who doesn’t already know, Jaws are an indie-rock band formed in Birmingham. Band members include Connor Schofield (lead vocals, guitar), Alex Hudson (guitar), Leon Smith (bass) and Eddy Geach (drums).
They bring an effortlessly cool and humble vibe to the stage with their well-known hits, ‘Stay In,’ and ‘Gold.’ But they also brought their new EP to life with tracks ‘Are My Friends Alright?’ and ‘Sweat.’
They started the night off with ‘Stay In’ to get the crowd going. The audience were much younger than I expected. I thought I’d be met with people around 28-32 who were looking for a dose of nostalgia after being obsessed with JAWS back in 2014… (me)… but I was actually surprised to see a more gen-z audience singing along to every single one of the bops that they performed. It was great to see a fresh bunch of fans who knew every song word-for-word. The crowd were getting as close to the front as possible and had a good old dance and singalong to ‘17’ and ‘Just a Boy.
I just love how cool frontman Connor comes across every time I’ve seen the band live. He says a humble ‘thank you’ in the same tone after every song when greeted with screams from the crowd. The band has such a great relationship with each other and it feels like we’re all just hanging out with some old friends that we haven’t seen in a while.
Even bass player Leon Smith got the crowd going with his striptease and spraying water in the air (and on the first two rows of stage left, may I add) to cool himself down after pinching Connor’s fan. I think the fluffy hat might have done the damage of over-heating… but it’s all in the name of style. Leon brings a great energy to the stage as he plays, spinning his bass in every which way possible.
Highlights for me were songs ‘Think Too Much, Feel Too Little,’ a classic from 2014, and Connor’s new and unreleased song which I can’t remember the name of… but remember the lyrics distinctly ‘….we won’t run out of time, when I’m lost in these eyes, when I’m lost in you.’ The band left Connor to it as he captivated the crowd, solo on stage, with bass support coming in near the end. It was great to see a different side to the band and it felt like we were getting a cheeky back-stage pass into the production process as we saw this stripped-back version of Jaws.
It wasn’t until they only had two songs left to play before Connor introduced the band… ‘We’re Jaws, by the way.’ Which just added to the authenticity of the whole set. They’re not there to convince you of anything, to try and get you to like them… they’re just there to do what they do best. And they’re bloody good at it.
If you’ve not yet listened to their EP ‘If It Wasn’t For My Friends, Things Could Be Different,’ I highly recommend. And the next time they’re in town, make sure you bag yourself some tickets.
Photography by Patrycja Mariarz.
