Having missed the Joy Formidable at Benicassim during the summer, due to their early time slot, I was delighted to see they were playing Whelans. Their ‘The Big Roar’ album has formed a staple part of my playlist over the past 6 months and their brand of energetic rock was sure to be brilliant live.
First up on the night though, were Funeral Suits. Having heard some of their material before, I wasn’t expecting to be blown away. They played a tight set, filled full of moody elegant rock, but apart from their hit single ‘Colour fade’, it was a gig that fails to linger in the memory.
The same cannot be said about The Joy Formidable. Whelans is packed and the crowd are waiting patiently, but there’s expectation in the air. The band come out eventually to a massive roar and tear into ‘Abacus’ which sends the particularly boisterous fans up front into a frenzy.
The set is absolutely faultless throughout, with lead singer Ritzy Bryan at various stages throwing crazy stares at the audience and thrashing around wildly on her guitar epitomised her stage presence, with all of it genuine. She also interacts with the crowd a bit, telling them how nice it is to play in a small intimate venue like Whelans and to make sure not to spill anything on her pedal board.
Her energy definitely transfers to the crowd and sees someone crowd surfing, while the singalongs to ‘Austere’ and ‘The greatest light is the greatest shade’ are just fantastic, seeming to even take the band by surprise.
They save the best to last with ‘Whirring’ however, led into with a lengthy drumroll and rounding off a gig that will do well to be topped this year, if only just for the energy exuded on stage by Ritzy Bryan and the atmosphere in Whelans.