For a new band with a total discography of eight tracks, it is unclear what to really expect of Bloxx, as they set up their own gear at the urban Chapel venue. The London four-piece are young and eager, and they excitedly chat and muck about on stage before the set has begun. This is following a warm-up from Vistas, an Edinburgh guitar band that very much harness a Sundara Karma attitude with tracks like ‘Retrospect’.

Bloxx start the set with their second-most streamed tune on Spotify, ‘Curtains’, a distorted, grungy opener to what unravels as an energetic performance. Lead singer, Fee, powers through some vocal mishaps in the first few songs. A lacklustre first few tracks give way to an increasingly impressive performance, and Bloxx eventually deliver what is very sound, very fresh rock.

Any issues the band began with has faded out by the latter half of the set. Any mistakes are from inexperience, never from a lack of confidence – there’s not an ounce of nerves here. The stage, for the full hour, is very much theirs, and they fill it completely for the entire duration they are upon it.

What you have here is a group of mates who really love what they are doing – and every ounce of excitement oozes off the stage. It is clear for the entire set that they adore every minute, as their constant laughter and smiles are, plainly, infectious. Fee repeatedly tells the audience to sing along, though she realises she does not need to; the band seem astounded when their tracks are being sung back to them, particularly on ‘Lay Down’, released only a week prior.

Rounding up the night with their two oldest, and more popular singles, ‘Your Boyfriend’ and ‘You’, Bloxx go into a frenzy. Guitarist Taz is clambering over the drumkit and high kicking across the stage, concluding ‘Your Boyfriend’ with an impromptu guitar solo that he chooses to play with the guitar on his back, across his shoulder blades. As ‘You’ concludes with an instrumental and an additional chorus, Fee jumps down off the stage to join the merch stand, before the rest of them have even downed instruments. She’s eager to meet fans.

Tom Poole

Header Image Credit: Charlotte Patmore