Live Review: Airways - The Bullingdon, Oxford 01/03/2022
Starting off their ‘Terrible Town’ tour, Airways prove that their debut album is just as catchy live as on record.
Hearing an artist’s debut album for the first time on record is always a special feeling, but it becomes even more so when you get to experience them in-person. That’s exactly how Tuesday night felt, as we went to check out Airways on their ‘Terrible Town’ tour and got to experience the catchiness of the album like never before. Wasting no time with getting into the music, it was a jam-packed set that left no desires unanswered as they powered through a mixture of old and new tracks, ensuring that there was something for everyone.
Starting with the brooding ‘Out of Control’, the relentless energy underlying the track manifested into a noticeable buzz in the venue as people started dancing along, understanding the assignment for the night. With one person already on another’s shoulder before the track had even finished, that was all the indication needed to show that it would be a good night ahead. Keeping the pace up with the deceptively named ‘Slow’, the stomping guitars and driving percussion whipped the crowd into an energetic mass of moving bodies, as the crowd jumped along to the tethering beats of the chorus.
Satiating the thirst for their irresistibly catchy, early break-through single ‘White Noise Boys’, the singing from the crowd almost overpowered vocalist and guitarist Jake Daniels as the easygoing nature of the track made sure that everyone knew, at the very least, when to shout ‘white noise boys’ even if they didn’t know at the start. Powering on with ‘Alien’, the furious guitars set the scene for a vicious, tongue-in-cheek criticism of how some politicians have demonised migrants and refugees. It’s a track that feels particularly poignant at the moment, given the continuing news of refugee crises and never-ending debates on related topics, but ‘Alien’ channels this anger in a productive manner as to make you feel that at the very least, you’re not alone in how frustrated you feel.
Allowing for vulnerability to seep through in ‘Me and My Brain’, it’s a track that unleashes the torrent of inner emotions that normally remain hidden and shut in a corner. Yet in this instance, amidst a crowd of likeminded concert-goers and a band that has acutely captured a host of emotions, you end up feeling safe enough to bring your barriers down and join in a collective catharsis that helps the words of the album take on a whole new meaning. Of course, this show would not be complete with the eponymous ‘Terrible Town’, which offered a jangling and jaunty tale of feeling tied down, before an encore of ‘Mate’ and ‘Reckless Tongue’ sends the crowd into a frenzy for the final time that evening. Between a group of lads all holding each other, miniature mosh pits and a few dance moves thrown in, the crowd’s reaction may have been varied but their delight at the band was certainly united.
As they continue to take their debut album for a spin around the country, what their first show has indicated is that there is a lot more that can be expected from this band. Their penchant for tackling heavyhearted topics in an accessible manner is simply one of various reasons why I, and many others, am a fan and we eagerly anticipate the next thing from them.
Words and Photography by Athena Kam
