Inhaler
With roots in Dublin, Inhaler formed while the four band members where still at school together, deciding to pursue a career in music. With a recent record deal and series of singles released over the course of 2019 the band are building their fanbase, and this gig was the 14th date on their first full UK tour. Frontman Eli Hewson is actually the son of U2’s Bono, though the band’s website avoids any mention of that. Despite what seems to be their best efforts to avoid piggy backing off famous musical relatives, a quick google search is awash with Bono references, and from the age of the crowd there was a large percentage of U2 fans at the gig.
London duo APRE opened the night and were surprisingly enjoyable. Dancy alternative pop songs tinged with lo-fi vibes and punchy vocals filled the set, and arguably they were equally as good as Inhaler themselves, despite only having formed in 2018. Their latest release “5 to 5” is a pop melody with a sweet sentiment and a catchy tune, following in the footsteps of the rest of their discography. Other stand out songs include “Everybody Loves You” and “Come Down”. It isn’t often that I’m able to rave about a support band, but these guys really seem like a band to watch. Their tour continues after Inhaler’s finishes, with 14 solo dates lined up in February around the UK.
Inhaler entered the stage to begin playing one of their four released singles, “It won’t always be like this”. Heavy guitar and impressive drumming make up the backbone of the majority of their songs, with Eli’s strong moody vocals carrying over the rest of the band. With a lyrical trend of teenage angst, they progressed through more unreleased songs than ones actually available to listen to, though their first studio single, “Ice Cream Sunday”, stood its own, losing the pop-y vibe in favour of noisier riffs live. Unfortunately, the set did highlight an element of similarity within their repertoire, especially with their penchant for running one song straight in to the next. Despite this the set was good, and the band engaged with the audience, performing with confidence and the usual egotistical nonchalance of all 20 something musicians. Avoiding the farce of the encore, they closed with arguably their best known song, “My Honest Face”, a radio ready tune and a perfect close to a banging set. Given that Inhaler don’t have a back catalogue of songs to choose from they delivered a fun, professional set full of enthusiasm and attitude.
Inhaler are continuing the tour into mid-December, and with the amount of new songs on the set list an album might just be in the works for the band, and hopefully their ever growing fanbase can push the band to the recognition they undoubtedly deserve.
