BLACK PEAKS / CASEY / CHROMA | LIVE REVIEW
Grand Theatre, Swansea, Tue 22 May
In the wake of one of the biggest weekends of music ever to grace Wales, BBC Radio 1’s Biggest Weekend Fringe had found its home for the evening in the beautiful Swansea Grand Theatre. The line of lucky ticket winners stretched far back from the main doors as they filtered through and made their way into one of the enclosed upstairs rooms.
Introduced by DJ Huw Stephens, alternative rock trio Chroma were up first and certainly gave a memorable performance. Singer Katie Hall came out and carried with her a charismatic presence that refused to go unnoticed, her powerful indie-soaked vocals colliding with heavy rock grit as she wandered around the stage (and through the crowd) while bassist Liam Bevan and drummer Zac Mather delivered strong rhythm sections and well-balanced backing vocals. Track highlights included Vampires, Blame It On Me and Girls Talk, the latter building to a great crescendo before a fierce linked instrumental solo. Mather climbs his drum kit before leaving a large number of the audience pleased with the openers.
Casey have been steadily climbing that rickety ladder, fighting to be heard by as many people as possible by spending as much time on the road as they can. It’s proved to be a successful endeavour, and judging by their set tonight, it’s no surprise that they continue to climb through the musical ranks. Combining ethereal sequences with hard-hitting post-hardcore elements as well as stellar stage charisma, this quintet won the crowd over quickly with numbers from their recent album Where I Go When I Am Sleeping.
Black Peaks had not visited Swansea since their last performance in Sin City, alongside Heck, but the moment they walked out through the blanket of stage smoke it was evident that they had lost none of their weighty presence. The introduction to new single Can’t Sleep fired up as frontman Will Gardner leapt through the side doors; cue a majority of still but content attendees turning into wide-eyed rock enthusiasts.
Headbanging, opening circle pits and screaming lyrics over microphones, the energy of the entire gig had been given an electrifying charge that brought everyone out of their idle-minded trance. Glass Built Castles and Set In Stone burst through the amplifiers and maintained the atmosphere until Black Peaks’ set finally reached its end with the overbearing sound of what seemed to be endless applause.
words and photos NATHAN ROACH