Lonely The Brave perform at Reading's Sub89.

WORDS: Ali Baker PHOTOS: Richard Follett

The evening is warm and still in Reading, and upon arrival at Sub89 – undoubtedly the most Significant rock venue of the town – there is a small queue of dedicated fans, from which a mellow but tangible excitement radiates. Once inside a wave of heat is immediately prevalent, the smell of beer and a low hum of anticipation accompanying it. Quietly eager fans gather in small groups around the warmly lit space whilst a louder and more openly excited assortment of teens collect on the front barrier.

The atmosphere of the crowd is relaxed and intimate, the relatively small venue far from packed. However, the subdued setting is quickly smashed by an ear-splitting siren that comes wailing from the direction of the stage. The first band of the night – Swedish Death Candy – step solemnly forward from the dark recesses of backstage and stand apprehending the crowd coolly. The attention of every person in the room is immediately focussed unequivocally on the four young men standing before them amid a jarring baptism of raucous, shrieking sirens.

As the wall of noise gives way seamlessly into the band’s first song of the night featuring the catchy hook of ‘we love you already’, it seems that everyone in the room begins to creep closer, almost in a subliminal fashion. Swedish Death Candy’s sound is so immediately captivating, particularly in the aftermath of their abrasive introduction, that the entire room is focused entirely.

By their second and third songs the band’s sound begins to become slightly more easily definable. Although Swedish Death Candy are most definitely difficult to put under a clear bracket of genre, their psychedelic combination of thrashy riffs, racing tempos and ambient breakdowns, all coupled with their energetic stage presence makes for a truly elating experience.

Following the first three distinguishable songs the band proceed to play what appears to be a fifteen minute long jam session for the remainder of their set, which whilst quirky is nevertheless incredibly engaging. For the entirety of their performance Swedish Death Candy maintain a stoic distance from the crowd defined by their distinct lack of crowd interaction. From many bands this may have been deemed arrogant but from the young, London formed band it seems to give them an aura of mystique.

They end their performance with several minutes of increasingly escalating tempo, at one point reaching a speed of such intensity that it borders on chaos, the drum kit falling apart whilst the bassist thrashes convulsively on the floor. Upon the climax of this seemingly impossible performance the tempo drops seamlessly back down to a gentle beat – like a wave rolling in to shore in relative serenity following the looming peak of a wave.

With a simple gratuitous nod the band leave the stage, whilst behind them the audience stand in near shock following the fantastically unique performance that they have just witnessed. After a brief half-hour recovery period the lights dip once more, and a soft piano backing track signals the beginning of the main act of the night – Lonely the Brave.

They take to the stage in their typically unusual stage set-up, guitarist and backing-vocalist Mark Trotter taking centre stage whilst lead vocalist David Jakes stands back from the front, near to the drum kit and facing slightly away from the eagerly awaiting crowd.

The band open with the final track of their recently released album ‘Things Will Matter’, the track being mellow tune ‘Jaws of Hell’. Everyone in the room immediately presses forwards, the initially sparsely filled room seeming suddenly heaving as the originally slow song gives way into a thrashy outro. Following this the band are greeted with a delighted roar from the crowd, after which Trotter asks, somewhat sheepishly, “Everyone alright?” The audience respond with a unanimous ‘Yeah!’

The band then launch into their recent single ‘Black Mire’ which gets everyone in the room swaying and dancing from the first chord. The song is hugely atmospheric with David Jakes’ immense vocals fronting the chorus and encouraging the audience to shout along. Following the massive outro of ‘Black Mire’ the crowd once again responds ecstatically. Jakes takes this in from the back of the stage where he has briefly retired to sip what appears to be herbal tea. At one point Trotter quips humorously at this unusual stage antic with a small shrug and a quietly murmured “singer stuff”.

As the band launch into the next few songs of the night – featuring recent releases such as “Dust and Bones” and older hits including “Trick of the Light” both the audience and the lads onstage seem to grow in energy and enthusiasm. Apparent frontman Trotter appears astutely aware of the crowd’s increasing eagerness, and his stage presence reflects this as he rouses singing and clapping from the audience during ‘River River’.

Despite the significantly enlarged crowd the intimate atmosphere that was present at the start of the night has not faded in any way. The audience and the band are clearly thriving off each other. Following Lonely the Brave’s ninth song of ‘Radar’ an excited – and most likely slightly intoxicated –audience member bellows “that was fucking awesome!” from the deeper recesses of the room, and this evokes an immediate scattering of laughing and cheering throughout the venue – not least from the band members.

Towards the end of their thirteen-song set the band play hit tune “Diamond Days”, inducing an emotional reaction from the crowd who scream every word. Their penultimate song is another recent release of ‘Rattlesnakes’, a song that is undoubtedly another huge hit with the audience. Finally the Cambridge formed band end on “The Blue, The Green”, a song that is well known and well adored among fans. With Trotter’s mention that this will be their final song of the night the crowd throw everything they have into this final, hugely emotional and atmospheric tune. People are head-banging, jumping and dancing from front to back, whilst a group of teenage fans at the front scream every word with outstretched arms to the band. The immense outro gives way into a final crashing of drums and chords whilst the band members yell their thanks into the microphones. Upon their exit of the stage the ringing sound they left to finally gives way to the piano backing track that began the night, rounding off their performance with a comforting sense of finality.

As fans begin to exit the building into the night there is an excitable, adrenaline fuelled hum of noise that always follows a fantastic gig.

Lonely the Brave have a number of gig and festival dates lined up for them over the summer – their

next gig being Mudfest on June 12th , so if you’re going to be there this band are definitely worth

checking out!

#Review #LONELYTHEBRAVE #SWEDISHDEATHCANDY #SUB89 #READING