An effervescent and eclectic journey through the highest of highs to be had in music.
On the 28th of March, The Exchange was home to an unmissable celebration of a gig hosted by two incredible acts hailing from Cymru. Outside, hail pelted Bristol’s streets, but numb hands turned into raised ones and raindrops on coats turned to glitter once under the lights of the main room, and that was just the beginning. There was a sudden eagerness in the smoking area and the pub that house the venue to finish up cigarettes and chug drinks to get inside, and then, we were set in motion.
“I think The Welsh Flag needs more green, pink and yellow[...] We should f**k around with it!”
Eclectic and electric, John Mouse was a frenzy of creativity from the very first beat. Imagine West End Girls by The Pet Shop Boys if it were sung by the frontman of the ‘The Streets’ or ‘IDLES’. Delivering 80s craziness with a jokester attitude and bags of charisma- ‘cause ‘that's just the way he loves it’! John painted the crowd into his one man hazy club night, led by bleak and blunt spoken word soliloquising his grievances and gratitudes for pop culture and life in a different time- through a refreshing and witty punk-esque voicing. He had the moves, the mind and he was candidly comedic with bright lyrics and an even brighter delivery. His tracks made each and every one of us want to jump around like we were in our teenage bedrooms (before they got turned into storage rooms, or home offices, of course). Intertwined with his eccentric and effervescent grooves, he treated us to what was essentially a quickfire stand-up comedy set. One minute, the crowd would be cackling, and the next- well, we didn’t really know what to do (In the best way imaginable, or in fact, unimaginable)!
Follow John on Instagram @johnmousemusic and you can listen via there Spotify
Adwaith “Is anyone in love tonight?” [Followed by cheers]
The party that night became a full-scale festival when Adwaith began to lure us in with their entrancing lead vocal and alluring backing, a siren’s gleeful duet. The band boasted euphoric and suspenseful bass riffs that get you ready to throw your hands up and sway- you can entirely envision a huge stage in the middle of a thousand-mile deep, dark, blue field past sundown on a late summer night. Indie rock at its finest and most formidable. You could feel that open air, with harmony filling it like a sky full of stars. This is a band full of peaceful but engaging energy, a band in control, but never still, never stale, always basking in the joy and light of their stage.
In one of my favourite songs, we began slow and steady, leading you into the magic by the hand before you’re hit with a tidal wave tempo change- then you’re flying with flawless, intricate drumming, a thrilling rhythm section soaring with you to keep you grounded in the groove. The beautifully balanced vocals were light and free, but with a deeper grit coasting beneath, delicate but demanding attention. Trippy, anthemic flange guitar solos from your very own dreams. Their choruses hit like a gasp of fresh air on the first day of spring, flying down a road with the roof down and your head flung back, filled with melancholic adrenaline.
Suddenly, amongst the euphoria, the crowd is adorned with glowsticks and party hats to celebrate a band member’s birthday, and this only heightened the illusion of being at a festival with Adwaith as your closing act. The main room holds 250, but the wild beauty of the crowd truly made it feel ten times the size that night. The benefit of the room not being ten times the size, though, is that a giant game of pass the parcel began soundtracked to ‘Tequila’. The winner was rewarded with a merch tote bag and a keyring that the band had won at Brighton pier that had cost them ‘all their money’ in ten pence pieces. The action kicked back off after this gleeful interruption and pulled us all back in immediately, every moment flawless.
Adwaith gave us everything, alternative indie, rock, grunge, dance. They echoed ‘CHVRCHES’ at times, ‘The Cranberries’ at others, ‘Phoebe Bridgers’ and ‘Boa’, too. It was a trip through even Latin-inspired drum grooves and shimmering tones to dirty ad distorted guitars and striking attitude. Everything was in its place and out of this world at the same time.
Follow Adwaith on Instagram @adawithmusic and you can listen via there Spotify
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