Circa Waves | Live Review

Circa Waves’ tight backing and their lightness of touch made for a truly enjoyable gig.

There is nothing that says ‘indie-rock gig’ more loudly than a queue of keen paisley wearing adolescents lined up outside Thekla – and on Thursday the 13th of November this image became a reality as hordes of teenagers flocked to the newly refurbished venue to see Circa Waves supported by Bloody Knees and Public Access TV in the middle of their UK tour.

The first support on were Cambridge grungesters Bloody Knees. With a band name that calls to mind both blowjobs and childish scrapes, their name was a perfect embodiment of their fun, and often lewd, brand of fiery skate-punk. Their songs sound like the perfect balance of fucking up and not giving a shit about it, with tracks like ‘Stitches’ boasting lyrics like ‘I’m covered in blood, but at least I’m having fun’. Front man Bradley Griffiths’ vicious growl and the turbulent energy of the backing (particularly the fierce drumming of Tom Wilkes) injected Thekla with a nervous energy that was then soothed by the following support – Public Access TV.

Public Access TV played a very chilled set, incorporating harmonies and groovy basslines into their songs, but their set failed to strike a chord with me as I felt that a lot of their songs – despite being very tight – were very similar.

As Public Access TV left the stage, the room slowly became more and more packed out, and people excitedly filled up the gaps between other members of the crowd to try and catch a glimpse of Circa Waves’ set as their techies loaded up their equipment and set the stage. The hysteria built to an almost intolerable as several girls screamed when the sound engineer checked the microphones, before the tension broke with the arrival of Circa Waves themselves.

Immediately launching into some of their best-known songs Circa Waves took control of the audience with their flawless instrumentals. ‘So Long’, ‘Stuck in my Teeth’ and ‘Young Chasers’ especially stood out as for each song the vibrancy and the energy provoked a surprisingly upbeat mosh pit. Circa Waves’ tight backing and their lightness of touch made for a truly enjoyable gig, they are definitely a band to watch out for.

Check out ‘Stuck In My Teeth’ right here: