Live Review: Muskets, Weatherstate, Rain & Lightcliffe - Sebright Arms, London 13/08/2017
Kicking off the evening was London lads Lightcliffe, who's sound was a haunting version of pop-punk, almost like a darker Jimmy Eat World. Despite being new on the scene, the band played a strong set that was well received by the early crowd.
We haven't seen Rain in a few months now, as they have been away writing new material, so it was great to see them on stage again. Their sound is like a wall of shoegaze, and kind of remind us that if Radiohead was to of kept going with that early guitar driven sound they had while still pushing the boundaries, they would of got to where Rain are at today when it comes to music. Certainly keen to see what the new material has to hold.
After that, we are followed with Weatherstate, who bash through a very old school sounding pop-punk set. Mixing sounds of early Green Day with the huge chorus of the Foo Fighters. There was clearly some dedicated fans in the crowd who made the effort to turn up today, as a few small sing-a-longs started during their set.
Finally, Brighton lads, Muskets, took to the stage to headline. We have always been big fans of these guys, and it is amazing to see how their are developing. The new material is accepted well in their set as they mix it in with the regular crowd favourites. Last time we caught this band was back in 2016 at the Alternative Escape for Great Escape Festival, and it is safe to say that their live performance has got stronger. It is louder, more angst fueled and in a genre such as their it is easy to get sloppy when it comes to performing, but not for these guys. They play tight and strong throughout. A great gig from the lads.
The only downside of the show was the turnout. It was a Sunday, but we have been to busier gigs before where Monday follows them the next morning. London at the moment is going through a huge change at the moment when it comes to it's transport system, and it is hard at the moment to not encounter some form of engineering works at the weekend when travelling around it.
So it brings up the question, how much is this going to affect the London music scene? It is fine if you are somewhere like the O2, where most people drive and pay for parking. But the smaller venues and the more local bands are going to struggle. Let's hope it doesn't kill the scene too much over the next couple of months.
Review and Photography by Ant Adams