Words: Emilie Broad
Well folks we’re back after festival season made the gig calendar pretty empty, I was excited to get back to the swing of things. Kicking off my winter gig stretch is Overpass, a band I have seen many times and keep coming back for more. They have had such a great year so far with the release of their debut album ‘Elsewhere Always’. Having previously caught them at the intimate record store shows earlier in the year to promote the album’s release I was eager to hear it as a full set. This album was the soundtrack to my Indie summer, but as the clouds takeover the sun
and my coat replaces the sun cream it carries over to this season. This gig started with me taking a coach over to Bristol city centre to reach Electric, formally known as SWX. One of Bristol‘s many independent music venues just down the road from Rough Trade where I’ve seen the band earlier this year. With plenty of pubs around for a pre-gig pint it’s one of my favourite venues in the city. Sat in a nearby spoons counting down the minutes to doors I was buzzing with excitement listening to the band I will shortly see. The openers for this date are Max Felix and The North who have been building a name for themselves over this year. The North have been on my radar since the start of the year but Max Felix I’ve not heard of and I was eager to see what his sound is like.
Now in the venue I’m waiting I can feel the excitement buzzing through the crowd. The first to take the stage is Matt Felix who has the strong stage presence from the get go. He feels like the Love Child of Miles Kane and Richard Ashcroft, if you’re a fan of these you’ll definitely like Matt Felix. He was completely in tune with his music and had a swagger to rival Jagger. I was completely blown away by his performance not having any expectations left me open to enjoy the music. He is definitely one I’d come back to.
The second act of the night was The North, a band who have been on my radar for quite some time. Completely focused on playing it felt like they were in a trance and nothing in the room mattered but them playing their music. The music suited the vibe of the crowd and the fans who came, they were definitely a favourite as everyone was moving and grooving into the rhythm of the beat.
With the openers finished, we were waiting for the main thing and you could feel the excitement buzz in the air. Opening up with Union Station immediately set the vibe for the night. It unleashed the energy from everyone, the crowd, the band were all moving in tune, the masterful playing was the conductor of the night. I could hear Indie’s backing vocals a lot more this time, they were heavenly. It added a lot more depth to the songs similar to how Nieve Ella’s feature on fall in love. It just compliments Max’s vocals so well and adds another layer you never knew it needed. Well I enjoyed the intimacy of the record store shows this performance was on another level. The full force of the music could be felt in away acoustic and studio versions just can’t do as well as playing from their debut album plenty of songs from the early EP was sprinkled in in addition to this the band played their cover of American girls by Harry Styles which they first did at Radio 1’s live lounge earlier in the year in my opinion it is better than the original. Hearing it live is something else and I hope that they release it on streaming platforms. It is suited to Max‘s vocals so well and I love how they make it all their own. It’s not a copy and paste. It’s also refreshing to have an indie band cover someone other than oasis or Arctic Monkeys but make this song fit the Indie style. This carefully curated setlist took us through the night, with every slow song there was a high energy song to pick us up and keep us going. Ending the set on ‘Is this real?’ left me desperate for the night not to end and left me wondering when I’d be seeing them next.
