Openers Wavves are certainly cool customers, though perhaps lose sight of the fact they’re playing under the shade of this stage’s awning to several thousand people roasting in peak temperatures. As such, they understandably don’t elicit the most energetic response, though the excellent So Long and Green Eyes come pretty close.
Putting it kindly, Marmozets’ appearance is seriously compromised. With technical gremlins from the off meaning the Bingley band’s in-ears aren’t working, drummer Josh MacIntyre can’t hear his click, and the sound out front keeps cutting out, it’s a borderline disastrous showing. Nevertheless, they put a brave face on it, with pregnant singer Becca Bottomley reiterating what a special day this is to be a part of and powering through like the dynamo she’s always been.
There are no such issues for Don Broco, who give Finsbury Park an absolute hiding. While on record, tracks from this year’s Nightmare Tripping are on the busy side, in the live environment, Cellophane and Hype Man sound absolutely colossal.
The Bedford lads are in a buoyant mood – despite being a band for some 20 years and “pretty much” becoming one thanks to Biffy Clyro’s influence according to frontman Rob Damiani, they’ve somehow never played a show with the Scots, so this is a big deal. Thankfully, the circle-pits during Pretty are similarly sizeable, as are the singalongs for Gumshield and Bruce Willis, courtesy of what Rob describes as “one of the loudest crowds of the summer.”
“I want to get every single one of you warmed up,” says Conor Mason at the beginning of Nothing But Thieves’ 14-song set. The frontman is certainly true to his word from a vocal standpoint, with anyone attempting to emulate his extraordinary singing during Amsterdam and I’m Not Made By Design, discovering notes they didn’t know they could hit before.
NBT’s strength has always come from their songs, which marry a pop sensibility to rock dynamics, and the skill with which they recreate them live, rather than their minimal stagecraft, and so it proves once again today. And while Stray Dogs – the title track from their forthcoming fifth album receiving its live debut today – and Evolution suggest an equally successful future for the Essex boys, this is a performance that feels rigid compared to Don Broco’s more fluid turn. The massive crowd they draw, however, suggests it’s not a sticking point for anyone.