Music > Live Reviews

VANT @ the Waterfront Studio

06/11/15

A dreary November evening welcomed the much hyped VANT to Norwich. Formed just two years ago this was their first visit to the fine city. After some cursory listens it's fair to say I wasn't sure how the night would pan out.

Kicking off proceedings were The Lola's, who have recently released their first EP. At times their 'newbie' status as a band (it was the bassist’s first gig with them) showed but there is potential. Their last two tracks Cynthia and Van Gogh's Ear hit the mark and earned them some appreciation from a somewhat sparse studio crowd.

King's Lynn natives The Extons followed. Initial impressions suggested influences such as The Strokes and The Cribs. This impression pervaded much of the early set to the detriment of seeing their identity as a band. It took until Balaclava with some mighty impressive drumming to see them unveil their personality. Thankfully they continued in this vein until the conclusion of their set.

VANT arrived to the stage to much cheering and jostling for position amongst the strongly represented teen demographic. Kicking off with arguably their strongest release to date The Answer was a strong statement. What immediately followed did not quite live up to the high standards due to a combination of the band seeming a little removed and intent on channelling their inner Weezer. Pleasingly a mid set 'hello' and a full on rock jam ending to Birth Certificate won over the vast majority of the crowd. What followed was some fist pumpingly good garage/grunge/shoegaze rock. It got sweaty, it got louder and it got more personal. There was now an obvious affinity for the band from the crowd and they fed off it. Mattie Vant with his hair obscuring his face and sweat dripping from his brow looked every bit the rock star. Billy, on his low slung bass was the epitome of cool. Henry on guitar nailed every solo and David on drums never missed a beat. This was what I had hoped for! The second half of the set flew by with singalongs triggered by outings of more well known tunes. By the time a rousing rendition of Do You Know Me? had finished reverberating around the room I was won over.

In the 45 minutes they played they had at times looked and sounded like a band who had been touring for years. Impressive stuff for a band with just five songs. Songs I wasn't sure about became highlights of the evening and new tracks showed a lot of potential. Moreover there were the occasional moments where everything just clicked. A few more of these ‘moments’ and there is no reason VANT won't take off. Judging by tonight I wouldn't bet against it.