Live Review: Clean Cut Kid - Liverpool Arts Club, 30/11/2018

Everyone’s favorite Liverpudlians Clean Cut Kid returned to Liverpool last month for their sold out, home coming gig. This was the final show of their highly anticipated GIVE LOVE tour and with support from The Peach Fuzz (also scouse, of course) it wasn’t one to be missed.

Liverpool’s Arts Club began to fill up quickly, soundtracked by a little Fleetwood Mac mix, of fans ranging from girls with glittering faces to men with beards who I can only assume have taken inspiration from Clean Cut Kid's very own Mike Halls' iconic look (lead vocals & guitar).

The show was kicked off by local indie band The Peach Fuzz who have actually just released their debut single, Destroy The Evidence. The crowd genuinely showed this band a lot of love and enjoyed their set which was nice to see as it isn’t uncommon for support acts to be ignored. They treated us to a number of other unreleased, very impressive songs as lead singer, Nathaniel Cummings strutted about in some very shiny trousers. I, personally, am really looking forward to hearing more music from these guys.

Then finally, the wonderful Clean Cut Kid were welcomed onto the stage by a sea of screaming scousers and kicked their set off with a couple of new songs and old favorites like ‘We Used to Be In Love'. The song that hit the hardest, I think, was ‘Brother of Mine’ which is actually dedicated to their new bassist, Gareth Bullock. This song has a massive guitar solo from Mike, who received an applause before the song even ended due to just how talented a guitarist he actually is. Halls genuinely had a Prince-like presence to him which left the crowd in a sudden moment of disbelief which then erupted into cheers.

Fans were also handed fake beard masks upon entry and were told not to put them on until instructed to do so. This moment came with the announcement that they were filming the crowd as they played their latest single 'Deafening’ and the footage was to be used in the music video! After 3 minutes of fake-bearded scousers 'going tits’ as Mike so eloquently put, the show proceeded with the title track from their debut album 'Felt', Give Love, Pick Me Up and was rounded up with an encore of Vitamin C and Emily. Experiencing this band live makes you truly appreciate the beautiful harmonies from Evelyn Halls too, she has such a gorgeous tone that adds so much depth to these songs and breaks your heart a little bit (in the best way).

Clean Cut Kid did Liverpool proud, as they always do, and the show felt like a triumphant return as they brought the Give Love tour to a close. They are heading back out on the road next Spring so be sure to get down to see them!

Words by Thalia Traynor and Photography by Jess Foster