It’s no surprise The Amazons have had the year they’ve had. The Reading band blew away a sold out Riverside last weekend in what was a truly spectacular evening.
In a recent piece I wrote about the wealth of Indie bands on the circuit and how hard it was for one to stand out from the rest. I stand by that but The Amazons are, without any doubt, succeeding in standing out.
From the moment lead-singer Matt Thomson strolled on stage in front of flashing red lights and surveyed the crowd through his trademark ginger locks, it was clear this is a band who mean business.
‘Ultraviolet’ had the crowd warm in seconds whilst mosh-pits had formed by the second track of the evening, ‘Burn My Eyes’. The notorious chords and chants of ‘Black Magic’ and ‘Junk Food Forever’ would make the biggest rock bands jealous with the effect they have of whipping the crowd into a frenzy.
What made everything so convincing was the manner in which the four-piece performed. It was evident they didn’t see themselves as up-and-coming, but already a fully fledged rock band. That’s not to say, by any means, they are cocky. A heart-warming tale of playing to 10 people in Think Tank in the not so distant past demonstrated that their feet are firmly on the ground – even if their brand of indie rock is fast becoming stratospheric.
Excessively long intros and outros did underline a lack of material, The Amazons’ only have their recent self-titled record to their name, but selling out venues at the dawn of their journey as a band will push aside any worries over their short set-list.
I can confidently say that I have never heard the lead-singer of a band in this genre sound as impeccable as Matt Thomson did in that moment.
The highlight of the evening came as Thomson took the stage to himself and performed a stripped back version of ‘Palace’. I can confidently say that I have never heard the lead-singer of a band in this genre sound as impeccable as Matt Thomson did in that moment. His voice silenced what had been a raucous Riverside and left me utterly bewildered.
It’s hard to put into words what makes one band so much better than the rest but if you want to see what it is, catch The Amazons live. Their return to Newcastle cannot come soon enough!