Music > Live Reviews

OTHER HALF, SHORT FICTIONS, SPIRIT FOUNTAIN & FEASTS

Voodoo Daddy's Showroom

27/03/23

Last night I went to a gig. Nothing unusual about that. I had no intention of reviewing it. I have reviewed two of the four acts several times and kinda feel like I am running out of words. I took no notes and just had a fantastic time. But as today has gone on the more I have thought that I just have to share what happened. See, three of the four bands that played are AMAZING.

First up its duo FEASTS. This was the fourth time I have seen them – the third time this year – and they just keep getting better. Conor’s guitar work strikes the perfect balance between riffs, melody and noise whilst drumming vocalist Ben is a force of nature. Anybody with a liking for shouty, inventive, creative, punky math rock should check Feasts out, either live or on superb debut album My Delicious Friends (currently only available as a Bandcamp download).

I won’t say too much about SPIRIT FOUNTAIN as their shoe-gaze/indie hybrid just didn’t do it for me last night. They are decent musicians, with a good ear for melody and I don’t wanna put anyone down. I’ll certainly be giving them another chance and who knows how I will feel when I see them on a different bill or in a different venue? 

I had very high expectations of Pittsburgh’s SHORT FICTIONS before tonight. I’ve been checking out their stuff ever since the tour with Other Half was announced and, well, fallen a bit in love with songs like Heather. They exceed my expectations and then some. On first listen, the music could be mistaken for fairly standard US alt.rock/emo. Repeated listens and this live show reveal that there s much more to them than that. Nick’s trombone adds an interesting twist. The guitar work of frontman Sam and Chloe – complete with two handed finger tapping – takes things into original, almost jazz-prog territory but is always deployed in the service of the song. I am so taken by this band that I am desperately working on the logistics of getting to another show on the tour but fear that work and real life will put the kibosh on that.   

And so to OTHER HALF, a band that I have described in the past as not just one of the best bands on the Norwich scene but one of the best bands I know full stop. Maybe it is the fact that they are touring with such great bands in Church Girls last May and now with Short Fictions. Maybe it is the ever more enthusiastic audience response, complete with crowd surfing, stage diving and some of the most enthusiastic dance/moshing that I have seen in Norwich. Whatever it is, Other Half just keep getting better.

How on earth a bill like this can be put on less than six quid including booking fee, I will never know. Whatever, it may only be March but this will almost certainly be one of my gigs of the year.