Hidden Charms
On their biggest headline tour to date, London’s Hidden Charms have been smashing sold out shows across the country. Their Norwich debut tonight in the Studio is a little way off maximum capacity, but the room is abuzz with anticipation.
Waltzing out under the cover of darkness I don’t know what to expect, but the rapid unleashing of a wave of psychedelic glamour is proof enough that this is set to be a wild ride. Centre stage, Vincent Davies fronts the assault, sporting a customised jacket and devilish amounts of facial hair. To his side, Ranald Macdonald is a tall, dark streak of 60's, absolutely going to town on keys. It’s a stylish and deliciously vintage entrance, dropping jaws before the first song’s over.
A mix of old and new material is aired. The dusky Long Way Down comes early, as does Left Hand Man, a fantastic shot of psych-pop with intoxicating, reverb soaked guitar. Cannonball is a razor sharp earworm diced with noise-rock instrumentals. Love You Cause You’re There jitters with Black Keys charisma, sludgy like Humbug era Arctic Monkeys. Banger after banger is reeled off with such finesse that it’s hard to tell where each song ends and the next begins – the set for the most part is one long jam session, the quintet moving seamlessly through long crescendos and making it look so easy.
There is the odd token acoustic number, but Davies doesn’t let the energy drop for a second. “Come on!” he screams over and over, unabashedly confident in the way all great frontmen are. There’s glimmers of northern soul in his defiant leadership – think Miles Kane or Liam Fray but with a ramshackle metropolitan darling akin to Carl Barat. Collectively it feels we all know this is a band who ought to be tackling much bigger shows than Norwich on a quiet Wednesday night, but that’s what makes this show so special.
The pounding I Just Wanna Be Left Alone signals time, but we’re treated to an encore. “On one condition”, says Davies. “I want to see as many of you onstage as possible”. His wish is our command. He sees us through early singles Dreaming Of Another Girl and Mona before disappearing into the smoke. It’s the perfect ending to a triumphant gig, proving in no uncertain terms that Hidden Charms are poised and ready to be the next great British rock band.
