Following a hectic few months which has seen them play Glastonbury, Reading and Later…with Jools Holland, alongside the likes of Kings of Leon and Kanye West, as well as embarking on their first headline tour in the UK, it’s fair to say that two brothers from the Peak District, more commonly known as Drenge have been pretty busy. On 12th October 2013, it was Nottingham’s turn to witness Eoin and Rory Loveless bring their garage rock vibes to the Bodega.
Support came in the form of Kagoule and Radkey. Radkey in particular left a lasting impression after their high octane set. Songs like Out Here in My Head and Cat & Mouse got the small crowd ready for Drenge, creating an atmosphere which might not have been what was expected but this may have been down to the size of the venue rather than the crowd itself or the support acts. Nonetheless, Radkey tried their best with the bassist crowd surfing at the end of their set before just standing in the crowd for the rest of the night listening to Drenge.
When Drenge did take the stage, they wasted no time working their way through their debut album Drenge. The vocals weren’t overly clear at times, especially in verses as Eoin’s voice was overpowered at times by the instrumentals. However, during the choruses as the vocals got louder, it was a lot more audible and clear.
Dogmeat and concluding song Face like a Skull were instantly recognisable from the guitar introduction alone, as a mosh pit appeared and crowd surfers got carried the short distance towards the stage. While 8 minute long Let’s Pretend added a different dimension to the set with its long instrumental introduction and middle.
Drenge do lack a certain type of stage presence, as they just worked their way through the album, stopping briefly between songs to say what it was called or give a brief back story to what the song was about. But this meant there was more time for the songs with the whole new album getting played in the 45 minute period they were on stage.
The gig was a great way to introduce Drenge to Nottingham and I’d recommend you definitely catch them next time they play.
By Aaron Brudney
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