Finally, the prospect of seeing one of the most exciting British bands around today, The Lounge Society, was crystalising. A two-hour train journey cutting through the Pennines wasn’t enough to dampen my spirits. In fact, with the help of some friends and some chemicals my excitement only grew to fever pitch. Now it must be said this was my first time at the Kazimier Stockroom which to be fair is named completely accurately.
After talking the bass player/guitarists ear off queuing for the toilets (my apologies Hani) I finally made my way into what can really only be described as a sweatbox of a room. There couldn’t have been more than 100 people, packed in like sardines for the show that had been sold out for some time. That being said I got talking to two girls before the show who had apparently just wandered in from the bar. Apparently, the doorman was accepting either tickets or warm smiles.
As nice as it was to talk to these two friendly enough, all be it thieving, people all that was running through my mind was the anticipation for the show. Slight alarm bells were being raised as I looked around where I was situated. Surrounded by a sea of… static fans as the band walked on stage and a whirlwind of feedback and drums started to bounce around the shoebox we were all in. It then all subsided for Cains Heresy, up there with 953 as one of the best set openers around today. Unfortunately, despite all that Herbie, Cameron, Hani and Archie were putting into it the crowd seemed hesitant.
In fact, it wasn’t until Valley Bottom Fever, the third track they played, that the damn walls burst. A song I had previously described as “just over 2 minuets of non-stop cocaine-fuelled-anarchy” was too much for myself and others to stand by and idly witness. As Herbie played the deceptively slow intro to the song everyone knew what was coming. The dancing had started, the night had begun.
I’d like to at this point say that there was an array of unreleased songs the band played throughout the night, each impressive, though none I can remember enough to do justice. That being said a new single, which is coming out on Wednesday, didn’t disappoint me or the crowd as a whole. Of course, the more memorable moments in the second half of the set for me were Television and Burn the Heather both perfect punk/dance songs. With two chanting choruses respectively accompanied by an onstage intensity pouring off of the stage anyone was no more than 2 feet away from at anytime both songs would make for brilliant set enders for most bands, but The Lounge Society aren’t most bands.
After what felt like 10 minutes but could’ve only been 40 Cameron announced “This is our last song.” A sentence that could only mean one thing, Generation Game. The band’s debut single, though I may prefer other songs off of their EP, is undoubtably brilliant live. The way it builds, crumbles, breathes and screams its way through the 5:30 minuet run time (which again felt like 2 minuets) is really something to behold, though nothing surprising after the set I had just witnessed.
Ultimately what I experienced yesterday may not have been the biggest gig I have ever been to, or the most spectacular, but it did give me an undeniable sense that I was seeing something REAL. There is no doubt in my mind this band is ready to play 1,000 cap venues like it is nothing but to see them in a room no bigger than the average kitchen felt like my own personal Lesser Free Trade Hall. If they are playing a show near you (and chances are that they will be in the next 6 weeks) go and see them. In the words of Diamond Donny Azoff “It’s like getting in on fucking sunlight before sunlight was invented.”
Photo Credit: Piran Aston
