Chris Hawkins Awesome Friends: The K’s
BBC Radio’s Chris Hawkins bring the heat to an extremely hot Waterfront with two of the coolest bands around.
Currently riding the crest of a musical wave, Earlstown, Merseyside’s The K’s arrive in Norwich having played at virtually every festival across the country this summer. You could have forgiven them had tonight felt a little lacklustre and off the boil. In fact, it was the complete opposite. The band looked like they were having the time of their lives, broad, beaming smiles and captivating the crowd along the way.
Opening their set with ‘Icarus’ it was all guns blazing from the get go. The energy flooding from the stage to the dancefloor is immense, there’s a lot of loyal, t-shirt adorning K’s fans in the room and they clearly know all the words, singing their hearts out as if their lives depended on it.
At times tonight it felt like you were at a football match, not only due to the army of aforementioned T-shirt brigade but also the anthemic chanting, there were lots of “yellows” in the crowd and the odd blue army, but we won't mention them here!
Loyalty is something the band definitely demand via their guitar driven, anthemic indie pop goodness. Songs like infectious ‘Chancer’ which certainly has a warm, friendly nod to Alex Turner and ‘Black and Blue’ that sent those down the front into a mosh of delight, are truly destined for headlining arenas and festival stages.
The real highlight for me was ‘Hoping Maybe’ the song swept the Waterfront off its collected feet, all singing in unison, you could see the sheer delight on lead singer Jamie Boyle’s face, it was a true moment for him and those who were there to witness it. This hit the back of the net like Jeremy Goss scoring against Bayern Munich, and even featured ‘Girls Just Want To Have Fun’ honestly.
Those energy levels didn’t drop for a single moment ‘No Place Like Home’ packs a punch ‘Hometown’ features riffs-a-plenty that build and shake the foundations and closing the set with their first ever single ‘Sarajevo’ was a truly inspired move. What a way for Jamie to celebrate his birthday, with a crowd living off his every word. Biblical.
Opening the night was Crystal Tides who equally seemed to have their own loyal following in the crowd. I didn’t know where they were from but the moment they took stage there was a Portsmouth flag being waved very excitedly in the air, it didn’t take a genius to work out the connection.
Geography aside, Crystal Tides sounded tight, exciting and full of verve. Lead singer Billy Gregory works the audience superbly and despite the heat manages to give the air of a very cool, relaxed frontman. They have anthemic choruses a plenty and reminded me of the quite brilliant Nothing But Thieves who I believe may well be an influence.
‘One Night In Paris’ has a really catchy refrain and new single 'The Middle', written about Billy’s best friend passing away is really driven, thoughtful and powerful. Having toured earlier in the year with The Lottery Winners, it is clear to see that Crystal Tides have honed their sound and are ready for big things. Catch them on their headline tour which begins in a few weeks, I can’t recommend them highly enough.
