Photo Credit: Nikisha Garrett
Words: Cara Clarke

“The world can be so bleak, so for tonight leave everything else outside” – George Coulson 

In a world that has become increasingly monotonous, digital and generally lacking in authenticity an engaging stage presence seems hard to come by. 

But that was not the case with indie pop/rock band The Valla who took to the stage in Sheffield at The Sidney and Matilda, supported by Indie pop band The Harbours from Leicester. 

The audience gathered in the basement of the event space, an intimate venue, to celebrate the upcoming release of The Valla’s new EP ‘War Paint’, on the fourth leg of their second UK tour. The venue’s underground setting and lack of an elevated stage created an insulated focus and cohesiveness between the band and audience that you don’t typically find at larger venues. Even the band commented it was nice to see people “face to face”. 

Donned in suit jackets covered in their song lyrics The Valla weren’t afraid of audience participation, personal anecdotes and friendly banter (including a competition to see who could keep their polyester jacket on the longest) which brought a lively ‘live in the moment’ feel to the set and made the music itself feel more emotional. 

In terms of the songs The Valla amped it up a notch kicking off with their new track ‘Waves’, a charged reminder that it’s not too late to chase your dreams, before addressing the crowd. They later followed with another ‘War Paint’ release, ‘Middle Finger’, a clever and relatable oxymoron created by the fusion of an upbeat melody and lyrical frustration at the state of the modern world. 

The set list itself was varied, the band played two unreleased songs for the crowd including a heartbreaking new track ‘Read my mind’ and ‘22’ which was described by lead vocalist George Coulson as the most personal song they’d ever written. Also featured were recent singles ‘Gum’, ‘Look at me now (fuck it)’ and ‘Fight this feeling’ accompanied by throwbacks such as ‘Ice Cream’ and ‘Make it Stop’. 

In one bittersweet moment George spoke a little about their journey as artists, saying that in order to be a musician you need to be a little bit stupid, very stubborn and have a thick skin. 

When reminiscing on the process of creating their new ep, he said: “We poured our heart and soul into this thing.” 

On a whole their music is best described by the words of George himself who said that to them The Valla means: “describing the belief you don’t have to fit into the boxes people make for us”.