Gig Review: Inhaler & FEET

Finlay Holden reviews Inhaler's Newcastle show

Finlay Holden
8th March 2020
Dublin-based indie 4-piece Inhaler have released a string of catchy guitar-centred indie-pop singles over the last 2 years, including ‘My Honest Face’ and ‘Ice Cream Sundae’, building up quite a following and earning millions of streams online. On the 22nd February, they took to the stage for a headline show at Riverside, with support from FEET.

Special guests FEET are the first on-stage. Hailing from Coventry, the self-declared ‘crease pop’ band consists of 5 gents, fronted with a chaotic energy by George Haverson. Their most successful tracks ‘English Weather’ and ‘Ad Blue’ certainly gain interest from the growing crowd, with the direction of tracks swerving and diving at the most unconventional and unexpected moments, which is most certainly intentional. The crackhead vibes shine though and certainly make for a memorable performance.

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Inhaler walk out next, with undeniable boyish looks and charm apparent from the get-go. Surprisingly, the audience isn’t overwhelmingly swarmed with 14-year-old female fans - in fact, the crowd mostly seemed to consist of young men and a few older gents. It is always nice to see a young boy-band that genuinely has something new and just straightforwardly enjoyable to give to the indie music scene; I would compare their vibes quite closely to the latest Blossoms record.

The band shows off a vast number of unreleased tunes mixed in with their most recognisable songs; the crowd bounces to the chorus of ‘It Won’t Always Be Like This’ before calming to pay close attention to ‘Falling In’. In particular, a new track called ‘Cheer Up Baby’ will make a great addition to the Inhaler discography, with a catchy chorus line that is instantly picked up by their fans, supported heavily by frontman Elijah’s strong vocals.

Rumour has it he doesn’t like it being mentioned that he is, in fact, the son of U2 frontman Bono; while it is respectable for a young musician to carve his own path rather than cling onto the spotlight provided by generations past, it is also a tad ignorant to not acknowledge the immense privilege of receiving support and advice from Bono and his many musician friends, notoriously including Noel Gallagher.

The high-energy continues through several more choruses, such as the guitar-heavy ‘We Have To Move On’ that was dropped only a month prior to this show and has already been hugely embraced by fans. ‘My Honest Face’, which is currently sitting at over 5 million streams on Spotify, is undeniably the most familiar material, with the bittersweet vocal performances being echoed across the room, and every lyric being heard very clearly from the packed-out venue.

The charismatic band end their short and early set there, leaving with a quick goodbye during which the band’s drummer hopped over the barrier and recorded a Snapchat story for one very lucky fan. Although it was disappointing to see the show close early with no encore, it is undeniably a good thing to be left wanting more from a musician. Inhaler have developed a great sound and following without even releasing an EP as of yet. This act will surely explode in popularity when a debut record emerges and should be followed with great interest by any fans of indie-pop.

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