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HeartRock Live Review - O2 Accademy 2 3/7/15

Kicking off Friday night was the bizarre yet brilliant Velvoir. Their front woman; Verity Jasmine Bee; introduced their set as an 'experience'. This was clear from the word go due to her femme fatale attitude and flamboyant feather boa. Her gravelly vocals conveyed immense aggression, heightened by her sexual dance moves, creating this mesmerising utter filth. You were left feeling confused about gender, music, life and everything in between. This effect was heightened by their powerhouse guitar riffs and ebullient bass lines. They're like a Warhol brainchild, but with apparent technical flair to enrich their artistic image. This group could easily become Newcastle's next hot niche band.
Following the mind-blowing Velvoir, was Hakweye Roadshow. Despite their very vocal front-man fashioning an awful  tasselled waistcoat and exposing his bare chest (FYI - it wasn't a good look last century either), the group produced a rich bluesy sound. They kept their set fresh through funkier numbers, featuring a prominent cowbell beat and various intricate and catchy key solos. My only criticism of this band is the vulgar language of the front man. Nobody goes to a gig to hear someone eff-and-blind and drop the c-bomb multiple times. I'm a very liberal person but his swearing was excessive and really irritating.
Next up was the quintessentially indie sound of Deep.Sleep, evoking happy-go-lucky summer vibes. Imagine Circa Waves and The Vaccines decided to jam together, the end product would resemble the catchy music of this group. Their strongest song is definitely 'The Slowdown', which frontman Daniel Frend dubbed as 'something a little more romantic'. The track is fuelled by its sincere lyrics and will secure them the support of swooning fangirls. I can envisage  an army of instagram biographies filled with lyrics such as: '17, your emotions are at peak'.  The band are relatively new to the Newcastle scene and undoubtedly have the potential to thrive in the area and further. To ensure this however, they have to work on more original material. Despite their cover of 'Pacifier' by Catfish and the Bottlemen being very good, it does scream amateurism when you can't fill thirty minutes with your own music.
The final support act of the night was Frist Born Son. If you're a fan of loud, heavy rock, you'll love this band.  Their set was composed of relentless guitar noise and catchy choruses. They created an atmosphere that was upbeat enough to dance along to and gritty enough to permit head banging. They've mastered the middle ground of carefree rock and heavy sound and will please a wide, diverse crowd. Their bass player also modelled the best beard I've ever seen, it was like something out of the Old Testament.
Headlining the night was the awesome Black Atom Movement. A.K.A: Newcastle's insuperable kings of blues rock. The dynamic duo layer herculean beats, colossal guitar riffs and booming vocals, concocting the most gorgeously heavy sound. The effect of which is simply euphoric. The appreciative audience became a vision of head banging and fist pumping  whilst reciting BAM's edgy ballsy lyrics. Their music is effortlessly cool and makes you feel like your invincible bad ass alter-ego. BAM also obtain this fantastic stage presence, showing their good humour and bromance through a quick cheeky snog during their set. They also allowed Hakweye Roadshow's frontman to join them on stage, serving as an unorthodox cheerleader before being pushed into a crowd surfing session.
 The room exploded when the duo played their signature song 'Stoned in Love'. The riffs in that song are so sating and the crowd was totally hooked and left gagging for the divine guitar solo. The suspense building interval before the bridge, created the most hyped up audience I've experienced. When it began (pardon the cliché). the crowd went wild. There's no better way to put it. All inhibitions disintegrated  and were replaced with unreserved motion. Hands down one of the best gigs I've been to.




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