Following the cool alternative soft psych-rock of locals jellyskin and some acoustic twangs from George Taylor, the crowd settled around the large stage of the main room of Brudenell Social Club. Admittedly, when Will Joseph Cook emerged onto stage, I spent most of ‘Streets of Paris’ deciphering the red letters dominating his shirt. After realising the text was just an endless repetition of “DISTURBED”, I got on to appreciating the indie pop tunes pulsating towards me.

Once the audience started doing “the thing with your mouth” as he put it, the small gang gathered started to dance to the Peace-esque riffs of ‘Daisy Chains’, as Will bobbed back and forth behind a luminescent, orange mic.

Will’s music has been steadily gathering a loyal fan base over the last few years as his music developed and moved away from his acoustic routes. Playing songs both old and recent he also brought out some amazing new songs to the mix. The slow, lonesome ballad ‘Cold Water’, for example, genuinely brought audience members to tears as the music hit them.

Quickly brushing all sadness from the room, Will fetched ‘Girls Like Me’ to infuse the crowd with some summer sunshine, greatly lacking on the cold Halloween night. Acting as if it was the final song, the instrumental kept fading between the ever-catchy ending chorus. An impromptu encore followed as Will picked up the guitar he just set down. With the much welcomed addition of ‘Beach’, screams of “I wanna make you mine” hurtled towards the stage.

There’s something about Will, the coupling of addictive songs and a visible love for performing creates an insatiable hunger for more music. It’s safe to say I can’t wait for his album.

Jenny Pudney

[image: youtube.com]