Dareshack – 21st September 2022
Our first experience of catching El live. We’d heard a fair bit of noise and excitement over El since the release of sophomore album “In The Light Of My Contempt” at the start of August.
No “difficult second album” vibes here. After hearing it performed impeccably at Dareshack we immediately went home and added it to our playlists.
The set was constantly peppered with me uttering the phrase “impeccable” under my breath as I don’t think there was a single dropped note at any point in the performance.
The Breathless vocal on top of live guitar and multilayered pre recorded beats is quite something. If listening outside the main room you’d be forgiven for thinking there was a full band on stage.
I’m not actually sure if El is a Bristol native or resident, but there is something of a distinctive Bristol sound to the music that makes it feel very familiar to the city.
A truly exciting talent. And one we are eager to see perform live again.
Our second time catching Methods live and we are rapidly becoming becoming big fans of this blues rock duo that fuse so many different elements to their music it gives them a kind of “Twisted Demeanour”… see what we did there?
With the ability to cause a party and create an atmosphere in any setting they choose they are a guaranteed hurricane of a good time.
A few early mic issues aside the band delivered once again a set that built heavier and heavier momentum until the early Toe tapping and head bobbing of the crowd had become a eager throng of moving bodies.
The rifftastic assault on your senses that Methods provide is anchored with great stage presence. And backed up with solid sounds that remind me of another local band from yesteryear in Black Wolf.
Methods though are very much doing it in their own unique way. If you want your gig to have atmosphere and the crowd to buy into your night, book this band.
Raising the bar…
We’ve now seen Miss Kill countless times so feel well positioned to say that they are quickly shedding their tag of “this band could be good” and replacing it with “This band IS good”.
The nervous naivety and playful sibling spats from earlier gigs is being rubbed out in favour of a more serious level of musicianship in both performance and maturity of lyrics.
The playful edge and charm will always remain to some extent, in part due to the siblings natural character, but the new EP that was the crux of this headline show does seemed to have brought about a step change in @alannahxmisskill & @flissxmisskill that WILL elevate them to the next level.
The raw talent has always been there, now with brand new EP “Don’t Tell Me Twice” they have the bullets to arm the gun that’ll fire the starting salvo of an assault on the alt rock scene.
It’s no wonder local promotion company @crosstown_pr have assimilated them into the fold. The duo are ready to raise the bar and see how far they can push it like a champion high jumper.
From the melodic, mellowness of “Drive” to the 90s grudge-esque melancholy of “I wanna let you know” the EP is a powerful listen, even more so live.
The other point of note is the ever expanding crowd Miss Kill are pulling in. As the support continues to grow throughout Bristol and further a field.
@bristolnomad_gigphotography / @thebristolnomad
