The band had some absolutely stellar support from dream-rock band Labyrinthine Oceans and Cardinals. Hailing from Cork, the latter were absolutely a highlight of the night, thanks in no small part to the awesome accordion skills of Finn Manning. I'm begging more bands to start using an accordion, it's such an awesome instrument.
At 9:30 the headline act took to the stage, opening with fan favourite and titular track from their debut album 'Scream from New York, NY', which certainly set the bar for the rest of the great set that followed. 'Manhattan Youth' was another standout performance, during which frontman Sam Slocum traded out his tambourine – very Grian Chatten of him – for an acoustic guitar, delivering an emotional and heartfelt tribute to their home city.
The band maintained a cool and quiet stage presence – very New York – and only addressed the audience a handful of times, one of which revealed bassist Nico Brunstein to be a huge “soccer” fan, and a Newcastle fan at that, having toured St James’ twice. Obviously, this resulted in an eruption of Toon chants from the crowd.
'Kids 1995' was absolutely the highest point of the set. The energy was up, the vibe in the room was great and you couldn’t help but move to it – or in my case just sway slightly further and nod my head. Though it’s probably personal bias, my favourite song of the night was 'Sweet'. It’s the first of their songs that I had ever heard, and hearing it live certainly reminded me why I fell in love with the band. It was truly just as good as I hoped it would be, if not better.
This was just such a good gig. From first song to last there was no disappointment, only that it ended, because I genuinely could’ve listened to them for hours. The band is post-punk meets shoegaze excellence, and their distinctive, somehow nostalgic sound is a testament to that.
Let’s hope Been Stellar aren’t bored of Newcastle just yet, because I need more! Or they could just fly me out to New York. Either works for me. I’m really not picky.
