REVIEW: Circa Waves

The 1865

SOUTHAMPTON

By Richard Derbyshire

Photos by Leon Gateley

IN THE middle of a huge comeback week and at the start of their biggest year so far, Circa Waves, one of the most exciting bands in Britain, rocked centre stage in Southampton.

After a brilliant Radio One live session with MistaJam and a day before playing to 20,000 in London, the Liverpool indie stars sold out The 1865 on Brunswick Square in a thrilling prelude to their eagerly anticipated UK tour next month.

“That was totally revitalising, we haven’t played live for a while and it felt great to be back” frontman Kieran Shudall told The Daily Echo moments after coming off stage.

“The Southampton fans were fantastic, really up for it. Their hands were always in the air. We played The Joiners a couple of years ago so we know there’s never a dull moment with you lot. It’s a long way for us to come and see so many people, but we really feel at home here.”

Incredibly, it was only seven days earlier that Joiners promoter Ricky Bates, who masterminded the show, revealed in The Daily Echo that singer songwriter Kieran, guitarist Joe Falconer, drummer Colin Jones and bassist Sam Rourke would play a warm up gig in the city, opening one of the shortest ticket windows in recent times.

But the group’s southern fans were up for it and with a brilliant set list of new songs from imminent second album Different Creatures plus all-time favourites like T Shirt Weather, Lost It and Get Away, this was always set to be a famous night to remember.

Banging latest single Fire That Burns, which 24 hours earlier had been Radio One’s track of the day, had its first ever live performance while stunning earlier release Wake Up opened the show with a fearless urgency as a sea of red smoke illuminated the band. Kieran was delighted to mix old with new.

“We’ve another new track called Stuck which has a perfect bounce tempo and we’re really happy with how that went down tonight. Playing Fire That Burns live for the first time was also insane. It’s brilliant to see people react that way.

“If our debut album Young Chasers is a daytime record, the new one is of the night, a rockier and darker sound, but they still mix well together and that’s something we’ve worked hard to make sure happens.

“We haven’t made up our minds, but another song, Goodbye, could be our next single; it’s a boss tune, heavy and with an immediacy that crowds like to lose it too.

“There’s 30 dates to come before Reading & Leeds, plus even more festival news soon, a trip to Japan and I’m sure we’ll tour the UK again in the autumn. The band’s going to be busy for at least 18 months so it’s lucky the tour bus feels like home!

“For the next two nights we’re at Alexandra Palace supporting Two Door Cinema Club. It’s such a huge show that our plan is to steal as many of their fans as possible, stick them on the bus and take them on tour with us!”

Circa Waves biggest UK and European tour begins next mouth. New album Different Creatures is released March 10 and available now for pre-order on all formats. More at circawaves.com.