Photo Credit: Chelsea Costello / Words: Ariana Boga
Formed just months before lockdown in a time where live music was quickly becoming a distant memory, Overpass have now made a permanent mark on the UK indie scene, capturing a sense of escapism and raw energy. The Birmingham four-piece brought nostalgic choruses and youthful energy to Sheffield’s Electric Studios, following on from the release of their debut album ‘Elsewhere, Always’.
Leading with the electric ‘Union Station’, which grapples with the vulnerabilities of early adulthood, the band fully embodied youthful aspiration through explosive guitar hooks, which resonated with their audience. ‘I Will’ followed and acted as a declaration of perseverance in the form of an indie-rock ballad with lyrics like “I will wait till the fire starts burning / I will scream when there is no sound / I will run when the world is crawling”. The track’s uplifting nature translated perfectly onto the stage and created a collective atmosphere of encouragement and quiet optimism.
Beginning with a powerful, rhythmic section by bassist, Indie Armstrong, and drummer, Jake Bishop, ‘Slow’ was bold and emotionally charged. The band crafted an introspective moment for their audience, who embraced the chorus’ anthemic sound through heavy chants. This continued through to tracks such as ‘Like No Other’ and ‘Stay Up’ from the band’s previous EPs, which contain themes that echo throughout their debut album, such as youthful nostalgia and adolescent angst.
The band continued with their own renditions of both Harry Styles’ ‘American Girls’, which led into Underworld’s ‘Born Slippy’.
The punchy and more grunge-style track, ‘Right Time’ encapsulated a turbulent romance with driving guitar riffs and purposeful lyricism, and the band carried this through to ‘Heaven’. Whilst being thematically different, the track had the same deeply emotive pull and grappled with the strains of both hope and vulnerability.
Unlike the band’s heavier, 2000s-leaning tracks, lead singer Max Newbold was alone for ‘Bonnie & Clyde Pt. 2’ in a tender, acoustic performance. The song explores the importance of human connection in an unstable world, and the stripped-back instrumentation echoed this and created the perfect intimate space.
The show’s encore allowed the band to showcase fan favourites in the form of the euphoric ‘Beautiful’ with its 2000s indie riffs and liberating, intricate arrangements that made it profoundly uplifting. The undeniable crowd pleaser, ‘3AM’, came alive in the late-night air of Electric Studios, wrapping the raw excitement and awkward vulnerability of first love into a universally relatable anthem.
Shortly after, ‘Fall In Love’ was a shift in tempo, featuring a deep vocal delivery by Newbold and themes of reflection and the fragile vulnerability of opening up to the possibilities of love again.
The set ended with the dynamic choruses and peak energy of ‘Take It Or Leave It’, paired with the crowd’s infectious chanting that felt powerful and purposeful. Summing up the set and the band’s debut album as a whole was the euphoric ‘Is This Real?’ that encapsulated themes of uncertainty, yet the comfort of being able to express emotion through music.
Overpass crafted an anthemic and melodic space at Sheffield’s Electric Studios that was brimming with youthful exuberance and energy. Their debut album translated perfectly onto the stage, with a buzzing and responsive crowd that was intimate, yet explosive all at the same time. The way the band explored the mental strains of their formative years, and the vulnerability of early adulthood was both deeply relatable and refreshing. Overpass are a band that has mastered the art of turning down-to-earth grittiness into elevated indie-rock.
