Live Review: Greywind - The Grace, London 06/11/2021
Irish duo Greywind brought their beautiful emo sound to The Grace in Islington on Saturday.
Opening act five-piece Flint Moore filled with their limited time with the passion of a full-blown rock show, encompassing tracks like ‘Shapes and Colours’ and Radiohead-esque ‘Gangrene’. In the latter, singer Francis Pennington check the early audience with the refrain “No Go-ing Home”.
“My name’s Finding Kate. You found me.” So Kate introduced herself, before playing ‘Inside Out’ as part of the evening’s second support act. Kate and her 3-piece band played a set that mixed older songs with energetic new ones which got the crowd bouncing.
Greywind hit the stage with ‘Afterthoughts’, the title track of their 2017 album. It was a showcase of what was to come, front woman Steph O’Sullivan on an eye-level with the glitterballs on the ceiling of The Grace while singing: “I’ve buried the clouds I’ve waited years to slay.” Later revealing they waited 628 days for this performance; it’s not quite years, but the sentiment was true.
They came to slay, and they did, with that debut album making up most of the 45 minutes. Tracks was met with clap-alongs and sing-alongs, including the particularly epic closing refrain of ‘Circle’: “We’re not gonna get out of here”.
Steph’s brother Paul, the other half of the Irish duo, was one of the three snappily dressed guitarists on stage. The guitars and drums solidified the arena-like live sound, which switched between pop and prog-like influences, always echoing, and shaking its way to an impressive delivery.
But the main focus is always Steph, one of the most expressive people I have seen on a stage. Dressed in yellow, she opened her arms wide to welcome everyone to the family club. For those who travelled far and wide, often in Greywind t-shirts, they were just renewing their memberships.
Steph channelled her inner Avril Lavigne on ‘The Lake’ to say “They can't console me, I tell them I'm fine when I'm not, I'm not.” It was an emo moment in an intimate room.
Steph asked for roses online, and the crowd duly obliged. She waved the flowers around during ‘Stitch On My Wings’, a particular set highlight – coming across like if Morrissey fronted Paramore.
Steph asked the crowd “Are you awake?” before tackling the banger that is ‘Car Spin’. It was a nice contrast to finale, February single ‘Am I Asleep?’ One of my favourite songs of 2021, it felt like they’d played it for years. When Steph sang the anthemic chorus - “I died again, I have given up, I died again, things are looking up” – it was clearly built for bigger situations than The Grace.
Greywind brought complementary atmospheres, showcasing occasional joy and occasionally a bitter, twisted vibe. Either way, it was delivered with heart through sound and lyrics. In their first stage performance in over a year and a half, the duo’s ambition was unavoidable. Here’s to achieving bigger things in the next 628 days.
Words by Samuel Draper