Cabbage (+April +The Shimmer Band) 17.2.17

Cabbage (+April +The Shimmer Band) // Joiners live Review
17.2.17

With 3 of the U.K’s most exciting bands touring together, it would have been a crime against humanity to have not gone along to their show at the Joiners on Friday night and get oh so drunk.

Cabbage, The Shimmer Band and April are the three bands causing the biggest stir in the upcoming music scene gaining support from radio stations everywhere and famous club night, This Feeling.
Friday night was destined to be a good one. April were first on and this Nuneaton based 5-piece leaked cool through their laid-back attitude. With endearing vocals from George Cooke layered over their twisty-psychedelic melodies, April had created a unique sound. Their stand out track was ‘Open Mind’ and kicked off with a pre-recorded voice stating “Continuing production of the open mind” before the burst of chaos began. This track captured that sound of the 90’s with a glittery tint that helped them stand out from other bands.

The Shimmer Band were the next support band and BLOODY HELL THEY CAN PUT ON A SHOW.
Their euphoric beats and captivating songs charmed the crowd instantly and put them under the spell of The Shimmer Band. Vocalist, Tom Newman is the most intriguing front man I’ve possibly ever seen and has an aura of mystery about him. However, bassist Tom Kuras was the one who I firmly stole my attention. His bass lines are what made me fall in love with them from the get-go. Kuras was the glue in the band; throughout ‘Jacknife and the Death Call’, his repetitive bass line held the song together and blew the crowd away. The Shimmer Band is a very apt name for this Bristol 5-piece as they did bring shimmer to the room, but in a disgusting way that made me feel a tad sleazy.
I know, I don’t get that sentence either.
However, this weird band of talent must be at the top of everyone’s list of bands to see live.
They’re going to get big, and soon.

If you have ever read reviews of Cabbage, you will know how mental they are rumoured to be.
They didn’t disappoint.
The Manchester 5-piece jumped straight into ‘Dissonance’ and sent the audience into a frenzy. The movement-inducing, guitar screeching pushed us all into a wild mosh and was the perfect insight to what kind of night we were in for.
They swiftly thrashed into ‘Indispensable Pencil’. The moshing continued whilst Cabbage played this Cramps-sounding tune that is a huge breath of fresh air compared to all the typical, indie bands that seem to be sprouting up everywhere.

2017’s answer to punk is Cabbage; this became evidently clear when they went into track ‘Dinner Lady’. The vulgar song is about one member’s previous job as a dinner lady and when the band started singing, “I had a wank in the quiche, and I watched the head master get it stuck to his teeth”, it became obvious that Cabbage are not a band to hold back. Nor are they a band you should hire for your Gran’s birthday party.
With chaotic track, ‘Uber Capatilist Death Trade’ coming up next and the well-known, fast-paced opening sending the crowd crazier than ever, it was no wonder Cabbage slowed things down with ‘Grim up North Korea’ afterwards. But everyone still went f*cking mental despite it being a slow song. Obviously.
The stand out track of the night was ‘Necroflat in the Palace’. The track smells like a Fat White Family song with slight stenches of The Fall. It was the song that everyone went hard for and was to blame for all the inevitable bruises that night.

Cabbage are not for the faint-hearted.
If you don’t like swearing, spitting, anarchy or rather, if you are a Trump supporter, don’t go to see them. But, if you don’t scare easy, enjoy being called a “cunt” and fancy a night of being pushed around to today’s answer to real punk, Cabbage are the band for you.

Photos: Emily Jade Photography
@Emilyjadephotos