October Drift / Oslo / Hackney
So on a trip to London town, we headed up to Hackney to visit a new venue for us called Oslo to see October Drift for the first time. Their debut album “Forever Whatever” is a regular play at the moment, and is sensation, so I was really looking forward to seeing how it would translate to a live set. Oslo is a fantastic venue, great bar downstairs and a large live room upstairs. This was October Drift’s final night on their UK tour and their largest headline show to date, and we weren’t disappointed as a large crowd gathered for the event.
The set was made up mainly of tracks from their 2020 album “Forever Whatever” and four trackjs from the upcoming new 2022 album “I Don’t Belong Anywhere” (due out 23 September 2022 and available to pre-order here).
As soon as the band hit the stage, you knew it was going to be one of those nights, where the boundary between the band and the crowd was constantly blurred. The set started with Losing My Touch (opening track on “Forever Whatever”) and like on the album it launches waves of feedback at us and wastes no time in introducing us to their excellent use of sound dynamics, slowing down and relaxing us with soft tender vocals in the chorus before the wall of noise unrelentingly hits us with the chorus. Singer Kiran Roy whirls around the stage, climbing on the bass drum before jumping back down to the stage. Later in the song, making his first trip out into the crowd to play guitar.
We get Cherry Red next, one of my favourite tracks from “Forever Whatever” which starts with lots of wonderful low end bass and delicate guitar tones across it, again giving us a wonderful sense of dynamism, before again the track explodes for the chorus. Ever present is the wonderful vocals of Kiran Roy, delivering their often heart-rending lyrics. This is followed by Just Got Caught as guitarist Daniel Young struts his stuff with a real rock start attitude on stage. Just brilliant.
Don’t Give Me Hope starts slowly and delivers a refreshing change, almost ballard like before things ramp up again with Oh The Silence which nicely bridges the gap between the band’s more sensitive moments and heavier tones, raising the level back up again. This one is a fantastic track, the heavier sections having a real stadium ready, power to them. It feels like a live anti-anthem for those that care about the world, but fighting their own inner demons, with lyrics such as “Oh the silence, Will be the death of me, Still got time but not quite the energy, I only half care”
Somewhere around this point in the set list Kiran heads off through the crowd towards the bar, and performs a whole track !
We get our first introduction to the upcoming album next with Lost Without You which goes down well with the large crowd. New tracks Bleed and latest single Insects follow and both are brilliant. Insects in particular has a heavy bass led intro and a real Nirvana feel to it.
Airborne Panic Attack, from the new album comes next comes next, with it’s real heavy guitar led intro before fading off to a vocal led section, before the noise levels ramp up again. The new material sits so well alongside the last album and shows the development curve the guys are on. My excitement levels for the new album rising as the set progresses.
Then we go right back to the early days and their second single from 2018 Come and Find Me before we end the night with the title track from their debut album Forever Whatever. Again the vocals are spot on, and the lyrical storytelling is excellent “I never heard you say goodbye, so take a turn. Every word lost to the night, shoestring holds our lives together. Forever and never…. You bring our demise together, light as a feather”
An incredible performance at a fantastic venue. Oslo is one of those smaller venues, where the crowd gets right up close to the band, and the energy just bounces off the walls. Tonight’s performance reminds us all of what we nearly lost through the pandemic, the lifeblood of our industry.
October Drift deliver a wonderful, energetic style of grungy alt-rock, with deep vocals and fuzzy guitars over pounding heavy bass and drums, but with an ability to seamlessly transfer into slow mellow music too.
With excellent performances from both support bands, Junodef and China Bears, this was an exceptional night from start to finish, for those that arrived early. I really hope great things are ahead for October Drift, one of those rare things, a band that’s truly exception on vinyl as well as on stage.
Set List
Losing My Touch
Cherry Red
Just Got Caught
Don’t Give Me Hope
Oh The Silence
Lost Without You
Bleed
Insects
Airborne Panic Attack
Come and Find Me (2018 single)
Forever Whatever (2020 Forever Whatever)
First up we were entertained by Swedish born but London based post-rockers Junodef who have developed a wonderful dark sound, which is dominated by engaging vocals that almost drift over an instrumental background. Perhaps the best example is their recent 2021 single Close. Their music has a moody style to it often coming from such simple things as a conversation with someone, a film or listening to a song. The vocals are fantastic and balance nicely with the tones supporting it. A thoroughly enjoyable set.
Next up, we have twin brothers Ivan and Frazer, with their university friends James and Dean who make up China Bears. Having played extensively around the UK in the last few years, having previously supported the likes of Genghar, The Districts, To Kill A King, Geneva, The Howl & The Hum and many more. The band list their influences as including the likes of Dry The River, The National, Frightened Rabbit, Coldplay, Snow Patrol, Kings of Leon and The Maccabbees.
China Bears play an alternative-Indie and having joined up with Fierce Panda Records, released their debut EP “I’ve Never Met Anyone Like You”, which has gained attention from BBC 6 Music, BBC Radio 1, BBC Introducing, Gigwise and Radio X
Their song writing is excellent and is filled with sophisticated tracks built around fast riffs and solid percussion. Their sounds is BIG, but remains intricate, and live performances are brought to life with vocalist Ivan’s manic physical movements reminiscent of Bowen and Lee from IDLES as he thrashes out the guitar riffs. It adds a dramatic edge to the set.
