Live Review: Seaway - The Garage, London 17/01/2018
After releasing their album ‘Vacation’ mid-september last year, Seaway finally made it overseas to come visit us in England with the Vacation UK/EU tour. We caught them on their last night here in England before they jetted off to America. The band have toured the UK a number of times now, and this time they brought Lizzy Farrall and Scottish band Woes along with them.
Lizzy Farrall was the first to start off the night, bringing a small band along with her to support her much more unique sound. Often when Seaway have brought support acts with them, they’ve consisted of pop-punk bands, so it was refreshing to have a girl like Lizzy on stage. She provided something a bit different so the night didn’t get stale and brought slightly more indie vibes to the night, with a much more acoustic set. Farrall brings beautiful and raw vocals to the room, stunning everyone into silence. It was easy to see everyone in the room was encapsulated by Farrall’s words, and she also brought a fun and friendly personality to the stage with her in-between songs. After this tour, it looks like big things may be coming her way as she builds and expands her fanbase.
Contrasting with the sound Lizzy brought to the stage, next up was Woes. Woes lifted the mood a lot more and seem like a band that don’t take themselves too seriously. To put things into perspective for you, the leader singer dabbed on numerous occasions and sung a cover of Papa Roach - Last Resort as they got the crowd to sing along, and laughed about it afterwards. This sort of humour on stage may not be for everyone, but it’s good to see a bunch of people that don’t take themselves too seriously and bring some fun to the room for once.
Many bands can be really serious on stage and whilst this isn’t a bad thing, it can make it harder for them to connect with the audience. Overall, they did a good job in uplifting the crowd and getting them ready for Seaway to hit the stage, and I believe their sarcastic humour is a real selling point for them that makes them more memorable.
Once Seaway came on, the room was pretty full and everyone seemed to be pretty excited. As soon as they played their first song, everyone sang along and finger pointed their hearts out. The band brought just as much energy as the crowd did which made for an excellent show. The band performed a mix of old and new songs, all of which the crowd seemed to enjoy and know the words to. Songs like Lula on the beach and Something Wonderful are well received, alongside older classics such as Sabrina the Teenage Bitch, Shy Guys and Slam.
Over time, Seaway seem to have perfected a real confidence on stage and they’re able to deliver really positive vibes, even with not so positive lyrics sometimes. They have been able to find a balance between not being too serious, whilst still remaining professional, which seems to have got them very far within the pop punk scene. They’re a very respectable band and offer huge amounts of energy, bouncing all over the stage. Lead singer Ryan Locke, even reached out to the crowd every time someone crowd surfed towards him, and made sure he grabbed their hands or gave them some kind of a high five at least. This shows a real connection with and an awareness of the audience which doesn’t often happen as bands get bigger.
Everything was cool, man.
Review and Photography by Hayley Fearnley