If you’re local to the South West region, you’ll know Thekla as the indie epicenter where most up and coming bands/artists start out. If you’re not local, you probably know it as the boat from the hit TV show ‘Skins’…. It’s regarded as one of Bristol’s best venues, and for good reason, with individuality in abundance. Visiting artists never cease to be amazed at the fact they’re playing on a ‘literal boat’. Nonetheless, as venues go, Thekla is up there.
On Thursday 5th May, the venue played hosts to Liverpool’s Indie Royalty: SPINN. Having followed the band since the release of tracks such as ‘Bliss’, it was somewhat surreal to finally see the lads performing their cult-classics to a live audience.
It was an impressive turnout that gathered to watch Johnny Quinn (Vocals and Guitar), Luke Brickett (Lead Guitar), Sean McLachlan (Bass) and Louis O’Reilly (Drums), especially since the gig fell on a Thursday night!
For me, one of the best parts about indie gigs is the support acts. Always extremely friendly, and usually the epitome of a perfect ‘warm up’ to the main act. On this occasion it was no different to exactly this.
The lads from Liverpool brought with them a whopping 3 support acts: Enter Red, Pentire and Stay Lunar. Of the three, it must be said that the fan favourite was Pentire. Heavy riffs, great melodies and a real ‘tight’ feel to the band. As an avid follower of the indie-rock scene I would strongly advise any like-minded readers to follow them now, listen to them and get on board with them before they blow up. Purely because this feels inevitable: their perfect promotion of their new tune ‘Fading out’ encapsulated a savvy side to the band. Free posters at the merch stall pushed the crowd in the direction of the band even after they’d seen the act they came for. Really clever. Their set was fast-paced and quite literally moving. People on shoulders (I know!) as well as the crowd bouncing. Not what you would expect from a support act at a small gig. This recount of Pentire’s set feels completely fair, as I’ve given myself a little while before writing about it. Had this have been done the day after the gig, myself and my two friends would have been far more enthusiastic (If you can believe that) about the superb support. Myself, Dylan Hams and Alfie Lowe spoke to lead singer Jack Morgan after their set the humble young man gratefully received our praise. Definitely a band for the future. Keep an eye out. Their latest track opens with a guitar riff beautifully resembling a Fontaines DC tune that I can’t for the life of me remember the name of… Ultimately, the support perfectly worked up the crowd ahead of SPINN’s entrance to the Bristol stage.
The time for the main act rolled around and it’s safe to say that SPINN didn’t disappoint. The band brilliantly opened with the first track from their second album, appropriately named ‘Hello’, and the crowd lapped it up. From this point onwards Johnny Quinn had the crowd right where he wanted them: playing cult classics such as ‘Sunshine’ and ‘She takes her time’, the latter saw my good friend Alfie Lowe up on shoulders shaking hands with Johnny. There’s a video somewhere and it’s brilliant. The beauty of the gig being in such a compact venue was that the crowd interaction was relentless. The scousers certainly brought warmth in their conversations with the packed venue. One occasion involved Quinn explaining that he had only just arrived in Bristol due to him graduating University earlier in the day (Congratulations, by the way.) The elation undoubtedly felt by Quin was shared with the crowd, to say the least. The band worked their way through a joyous set and got people moving despite it being a Thursday. Quinn’s dancing deserves it’s own shout out, seeming like a homage to Morrissey (obviously without the unpleasant bits). The set seemed to fly by and the band should be chuffed with what was a great set. Having a strong cult following, I hope that the future brings more success to SPINN, their tracks are perfectly constructed and are just generally lovely. Not to mention how well the band put themselves forward: seeming like really nice lads.
The evening’s entertainment concluded with one of the band’s biggest tunes: Notice Me, which was the perfect end to an outstanding evening of music. I, along with many others I presume, can’t wait to see what’s next for SPINN.
MC 