1st April 2015
Clubs
Wild Alive EP Launch
Secret Location
by Keith Jobey
Clubs is a band that revels in being a bit mysterious, so it was no surprise that the launch of their new Wild Alive EP involved a secret gig, announced a week beforehand, with entrance strictly by purchased ticket. And happily for me I purchased one of those tickets.
It’s been a slow, steady but deliberate build-up from the band and there’s a feeling that this patience is about to pay off. Careful not to overplay their home town means headline gigs usually sell out. Well chosen support slots and appearances in the indie breeding grounds of The Old Blue Last, The Lexington and The Garage in London is helping to win fans further afield. And a touring support slot to be announced soon can’t be a bad move either. Mixing with such company has led to the position they now sit at – poised on the brink of taking the next big step with rumours that the NME have sent a reporter tonight. So perhaps they are about to make it, even the Leicester Mercury are here!
Photo Keith Jobey.
The slow build began as long ago as the summer of 2012 with the reinvention of their previous band. Little did I know that, as I watched Panda Youth play their last gig at The Lansdowne on London Road, the then untitled song they closed with was to become ‘Other‘ and was effectively the beginning of Clubs. March 2013 saw that song appear on Velvet EP and Clubs had arrived properly. Float Free, their second release recorded at Foals studio, didn’t appear until September 2014. By which point they had already played the Isle of Wight Festival. And now we have Wild Alive EP, released March 2015 and recorded at RML Studios with Ryan Pinson.
The secret event took place in Watch This Space boutique in St Martins Square. Not in the boutique itself but in the cellar below, a 2 room, tiled space. As you can imagine, it isn’t a big room so tickets were strictly limited to 50, and with the band taking about a third of the floor space the fortunate few who’d got a ticket filled the remainder of the room.
Photo Keith Jobey.
It wasn’t so much as a gig, more of a soiree. The band, friends, members of other bands and fans mingling over a few drinks before Clubs picked up their instruments and opened their set with Wild Alive, one of the tracks from the new EP. Next there’s the older Carry You from the Velvet EP and later there is Bleed from the second release. These are interspaced with a handful of new tracks, from the slower, quieter Best Friend and the dreamier East Coast to the instantly catchy and faster Second Sister; a good enough range of songs now to compile an album. Luminous, another track from the new EP, is played second last while Porcelain closes the set. No encore, leave them wanting more is Clubs philosophy. After the show the soiree continues, as for Clubs next move… watch this space.
Physical copies of the EP are coming very soon, I’m informed.
You can listen to Clubs on Soundcloud.
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