Photo Credit: Cerys Alexa

With guitar and rock music back in circulation over the past few years, there’s no shortage of bands filling the space. What’s less common is finding one that delivers both consistency and genuine urgency. At The Bodega in Nottingham, Basht. proved they are firmly in that category. 

The sold out date marked a stop on their Spring UK tour, and despite being early in their career, the turnout suggested a band already outgrowing rooms of this size. The Bodega’s tight, dimly lit space worked in their favour though. It turned the set into something immediate and physical, something the crowd clearly craved. 

Formed in 2021, the Irish alt-rock outfit have steadily carved out a place within the wider resurgence of guitar music. Support slots alongside Wunderhorse and the Goo Goo Dolls, paired with festival appearances at Sound City and Truck Festival, have built momentum, but it’s their sophomore EP Bitter and Twisted that has anchored a growing and noticeably committed following.

Opening the night, Esmeralda Road delivered a set that avoided the usual support slot drift. The Belfast five-piece, still relatively new, carried themselves with a confidence that translated immediately. Their sound sits within alternative indie, but sidesteps anything too predictable. Frontman Charlie Magill played a key role in this, checking in with the crowd between songs and keeping the atmosphere loose without losing control of the room. ‘I Think’ landed particularly well, earning one of the first big reactions of the night, and by the time Magill closed their set in the pit, they had the room fully locked in.

When it was finally time for Basht’s arrival, the band wasted no time on introductions. Opening with unreleased track ‘Vermillion’, the anticipation among the crowd at its peak. ‘Burn’ marked the first real energy shift, arms raised and voices cutting through the room, while ‘Vain’ quickly escalated things further, opening the first mosh pit. From that point on, the set rarely settled. 

‘Stockholm’ proved a clear turning point, tipping the room into something looser, with the night’s first crowd surfer cutting through the centre. Material from Bitter and Twisted anchors the set, but it is the newer tracks that hint at where things are heading. ‘Perfume’, announced as the next single, carries a sharper edge, while ‘Terror TV’ and ‘Kids vs Guns’ already have a foothold among the audience. When parts of the room are shouting along to songs that have not even been released, it suggests something much deeper than casual interest. 

By the closing stretch, the room is fully uncontained. ‘Dirty White’ and ‘Gone Girl’ land with maximum force, each one escalating what came before. During ‘Kiera Knightly’, lead vocalist Jack Leavey steps into the crowd and disappears into it, dissolving any remaining boundary between the crowd and the band. The night closed with ‘Wild Horses’, a final release that left the room aching for more.

For a band with a relatively limited catalogue, Basht. already perform with the assurance of something far more established. More importantly, they feel in motion. This was not a band testing their footing, but one already pushing beyond it. If this tour captures them at this stage, it is unlikely they will be returning to rooms with this capacity for much longer.