The Amazons - Swim School - Fiona-Lee
Mark Stimpson
As the queue snaked along King Street there was a cool anticipation in the cold air for a night of music that would see the best and brightest of current and new musical talent from across the country.
Opening up was the quite delightful and delicate Fiona-Lee. Yorkshire born but now based in London, her vocals instantly reminded me of Tori Amos.
Standout song ‘Mother’ could absolutely fit on Amos’ Little Earthquakes’ album and that’s praise you cannot ignore. The lyrical content was dark and yet the song felt uplifting, especially when Fiona-Lee sang off mic to complete her set.
Fiona-Lee
Hailing from Edinburgh, Swim School have been slowly building their reputation and fan base for a number of years.
They once described themselves as “basically a Tesco Value Wolf Alice” whilst this is quite complimentary, I feel they’ve grown and could well be riding the same crest of a wave Wolf Alice have been on very soon.
Songs like ‘Bored’ and ‘Delirious’ really tap into the heavy 90s revived grunge scene with beautiful shoegaze goodness thrown in for very good measure.
They seem to be lovingly influenced by Sleater-Kinney, The Breeders and Slowdive which for a threesome is incredibly strong.
Lead singer Alice Johnson makes for a brilliant front person with ethereal vocals and truly gets the crowd engaged.
There’s often talk about ‘the next big thing’ but for me Swim School are the real deal. They’ll be back at the Waterfront next year and I’m very excited to welcome them back. One to watch without a question.
Swim School
The Amazons return to Norwich tonight after a hugely successful 18 months.
Their third album ‘How Will I Know If Heaven Will Find Me’ came out in September of last year to rave reviews. Since then, they’ve had an extensive UK and Europe tour plus their first ever US headline tour plus a main stage Reading and Leeds festival appearance. All is good.
The Amazons
And you can feel that in the joy of their performance. Opening with ‘Ready For Something’ the band are in fine form. The riffs are heavy, Queen Of The Stone Age driven and a lot vaster than the recorded version.
The set list features songs from all three of the band's albums, highlights for me were the thrashy ‘Stay With Me’ and the singalong refrains of ‘Junk Food Forever’ which saw them joined on stage by Swim School and Fiona-Lee.
‘Black Magic’ certainly seemed to be the fans favourite of evening, mobile phones aloft from every other person, sharing the song with those who weren’t there or filming so they can remember the riff heavy joy of night.
The Amazons
‘In My Mind’ and ‘Doubt it’ rumbled along with more glitter and glamour much like lead singer Matt Thompson’s sparkly jacket.
‘Mother’ closed the night with a drone-heavy bass reverberating around the venue, pillars shaking and heads nodding along in solid approval.
Tonight, The Amazons have shown their one of the UKs best live outfits, here’s to the next album and where it takes them.
The Amazons
FULL GALLERY HERE
