Last Sunday (Easter Sunday) a local band - Alaska Campus - played a small gig in Watford Town Centre at a bar called Rehab. I posted a "New Discovery" about Alaska Campus a while ago so if you haven't yet heard them; click here to have a listen/read more about them. But back to the gig... My friends and I arrived at about 7 to quite a small number of people just kind of standing around. Was not quite what I was expecting but it was chilled and drinks were really cheap so, score! haha. As far as I knew Alaska Campus were supposed to be on at 7 but nothing really looked like it was happening; the band were just talking to their friends, the stage was deserted, so I was a little bit confused.
After a short while and a couple of drinks, a support band came on stage. Another band from Watford, a three-piece called "Insurgents". I wasn't expecting a support band but who'd be upset about free live music?! Insurgents absolutely slayed their set. Their drummer was ridiculously on point - he actually snapped two of his drumsticks he was so into it. They were all on point actually, the bassist had some really really cool parts and I always love it when the bassist doesn't just fade into the background, which is often a possibility when bands play live. Their lead singer also did the thing that usually seals the deal for me - he played a floor tom over the beat to end the show. I have definitely expressed my love for this action before. So as you can imagine, I was pretty impressed. Spoke to the lead singer after their set and had to tell him how much I enjoyed it. It is not often that I go to a gig and see the support act upstage the main...
Speaking of the main act, Alaska Campus came on soon after and began sound-checking. During sound-check I heard the guitarist playing some Peace and then Foals riffs on his guitar and of course immediately I thought "what a cool guy!" haha. The band started off their set with a toned down piece - just Ryan singing over his own guitar. He has a fantastic voice so it was a nice start. They then proceeded to play a few more of their songs, some of which I recognised, some of which I didn't. They got the crowd participating during their song "To The New Year" (a favourite of mine) which was cool. Overall, they played a good set, there was some sloppiness and I think overall I expected more from them, but they played well nonetheless - definitely wouldn't mind seeing them again. Spoke to the guitarist and the lead singer afterwards and turns out I thought right - they are cool guys haha. It was definitely a night well spent.
Overall Rating: 7.5/10
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