Live Review: Gurriers - Moth Club, London 06/11/2024
Dublin-based five-piece Gurriers continue showcasing their debut album, Come And See, with a sold-out show at London’s MOTH Club.
Ireland is the country that keeps on giving in terms of musical talent, particularly this year, with the likes of Fontaines D.C., KNEECAP, SPRINTS, NewDad and CMAT making waves at home and overseas. Now, rage-fuelled post-punk five-piece Gurriers are following suit. With a summer full of stellar festivals across Ireland, the UK and Europe and the release of their debut album Come And See in September, Gurriers have been climbing up the ladder at a phenomenal pace.
Having just finished the sold-out European leg of their Come And See tour, the Irish post-punk quintet continued their move through the UK with a sold-out show at London’s famous MOTH Club on the 6th of November, with support from South London locals Automotion.
Automotion, a London-based four-piece, provide an excellent warm-up before Gurriers take the stage. Those who frequent the well-loved Windmill in Brixton will be familiar with Automotion’s distinctive, experimental sound. A mix of fuzzy guitar, slow, controlled drums and haunting, often fleeting, vocals, they are not dissimilar to The Smashing Pumpkins by any means. With the release of their EP Dissolve back in June of this year, and a new single Inferno in October, the band captured the crowd’s attention with their mix of slow melodies that suddenly progress into much heavier pieces. The controlled chaos they offered was the perfect teaser for what lay ahead.
The crowd disperse after Automotion, people sneaking in last-minute cigarettes and pints before the main act begins. MOTH Club is filled with chatter, voices floating across the room before Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You by Frank Valli & The Four Seasons comes through the speakers, slightly louder than the music playing previously, which suggests to the crowd that Gurriers are about to appear. There’s a bit of a hush. People edge closer to the stage, pushing forward to get a better view. If you’re new to MOTH Club, with its glittering gold ceiling and gold streamers decorating the back of the stage, at that very moment, it feels like a wedding cover band is about to come on.
That illusion is soon burst as the song builds to the chorus and the five lads that make up Gurriers push through the crowd, quite literally taking centre stage. Lead vocalist, Dan Hoff, has his arms in the air, encouraging the crowd to sing along to the “I love you baby” chorus while the rest don themselves with instruments, and in the drummer, Pierce Callaghan’s case, a pair of dark black shades. The 90s track comes to a halt, and there’s a brief silence, the crowd already bouncing on their heels with anticipation. The biting siren sounds of Nausea, the opening track from their album Come And See begins. After that…a whole hour of chaos ensues.
With its screeching, howling guitars combined with Dan’s half-singing, half-screaming of “it’s a problem that they all have”, Nausea is quite the opener for Gurriers and they don’t drop the ball once for the rest of the show. The mosh pit forms almost instantly, young and old bodies throwing themselves together in time to the song and there’s no chance to catch a breath when the track Close Call follows. The energy of this song is relentless, led by Pierce on the drums followed by distorted, hectic guitars, it’s every bit as angry, fast and feral as its predecessor. And while Dan Hoff is very obviously a natural-born frontman, charismatic, passionate and in your face as he screams “close call”, the other lads have absolutely no qualms about getting into the thick of the pit on numerous occasions either. Guitarist Mark MacCormack is the first to venture in amongst the already sweaty bodies (a song and a half in) during Close Call, whilst Charlie McCarthy and his bass make multiple trips.
As if it wasn’t already mayhem on the dance floor, Gurriers kick it up a notch with the heavy, psych-punk Des Goblin, which sees a couple of people in attendance pulling their shirts off and swinging them over their heads. The crowd opens up for Charlie’s first run-in, and the song slows suddenly as the lead man stands on the edge of the stage, arms outstretched, anticipating the start of the bridge. The audience slows themselves down, swaying in time around the bassist as the beat of the drum continues to build behind the vocals. Any Idles fans in the crowd would have noticed the Bristolian band’s influence bleeding through in this particular moment. When the track reaches its peak, “we watch the politicians act madly” you can barely make out the top of the bass, never mind the bass player, amongst the crush of bodies coming together.
By the time they play Dipping Out, a song they dedicate to friends who have emigrated from Ireland, the sweat is well and truly dripping from MOTH Club’s glittered ceiling (we’re only three songs in here). With Dan encouraging the crowd “Let’s fuckin’ dance for them yeah”, it’s a gritty, savage tune. A cacophony of hectic guitars and raw bass, all carried by the relentless energy of the drums. It is worth noting that despite four out of five of the Gurriers visibly sweating by this point, the drummer, Pierce, is the image of control. Hidden behind the dark shades, he makes playing the drums look effortless, despite the chaotic, fiery tracks he is a part of. The band are clearly feeding off the energy that has been building from the start of the gig, and the bubble reaches its peak and pops during the absolute head smasher No More Photos. With Dan Hoff throwing himself into the middle of a crowd that has now lost all sense of control, singing “Gentlemen no more fighting in the bathroom please, you’ve all been caught doing too many Es”, the band and the gig-goers have reached a new level of ferocity.
They turn it down only slightly, with the song Prayers. It offers the crowd a moment of reflection during the spoken-word lyrics, “and now the Pope says his prayers to the empty row of chairs” accompanied by brooding riffs and drums that continue to pick up the pace, leading to an epic outro that really showcases Dan’s vocal range. Another moment of respite follows with Top Of The Bill, a song that opens with a hard-to-beat guitar riff that remains in the limelight for the duration of the song. The frontman’s Dublin accent is more present throughout this performance, which adds an extra layer of punchy grit to the song and guitarist Ben O’Neill’s backing vocals create a haunting effect that is strengthened by the gut-punching lyrics throughout - “I want to go out, but I can’t get dressed”.
The crowd are itching for more after catching their breath and are not disappointed when the punky bass of Sign Of The Times begins. Once again, Ben’s biting backing vocals really shine through on this one, particularly during the bridge, but the star of the show is ultimately the bass. Watching bassist Charlie pushing his way through, by this point, a heaving mosh pit to climb up onto a table behind the crowd, bass guitar in tow, is impressive, to say the least.
The audience is treated to a brand new song, Dissolve, which carries all of the fiery rage, heavy strings and controlled drums that are becoming synonymous with Gurriers. By the time the penultimate track, Approachable, rolls around, the crowd are throwing themselves around with reckless abandon. With the re-election of Trump laying heavy on a lot of minds that evening, the gig has been cathartic. A sweet release of pent-up rage and frustration at the state of the world, for both the band and its enraptured audience.
They close out the show with the track that shares the album’s name, Come And See, which has all of the punk energy, smashing drums, distorted guitars and siren sounds that accompanied their other tracks. Yet there is an underlying sense of peace that follows this one. Whilst the vocalist sings of finding an escape from reality, that is exactly what this Irish group provided for their audience tonight. A means of escape from the current madness of the world, if only for an hour.
As the crowd lines up at the merch stand post-show, there’s a collective buzz lingering throughout MOTH Club, a silent agreement among the gig-goers that they have in fact, just witnessed something quite special.
And if the Pope is wondering where his followers have gone…my money’s on them being at a Gurriers gig.
Words and Photography by Angela English
