Review
Review
The Great Escape Presents at The Old Blue Last, 20/03/25
The Old Blue Last plays home to more of the best up-and-coming bands that will be playing The Great Escape later this year
Knives
For the few years I spent living in Bristol, you couldn’t get away from Knives. Whether it was their raucous live shows or a slightly mad cover of Kate Bush’s ‘Babooshka’, they certainly knew how to kick up a fuss. 2024 saw their biggest ever headline shows, and trips to Europe. Since then, though, it’s been fairly quiet – unusual for a band that seemingly only know how to be loud. This showing at The Old Blue Last was the first gig the band had played in a while, and whilst I haven’t required earplugs for any previous TGE Presents shows, they were a necessity this time. Knives were back in business, then. The chaos came quickly, with a broken cymbal early on. A show, if it was needed, of the energy Knives brought early on. And they didn’t let up. ‘Happiness’ from their 2024 EP What We See In Their Eyes opened proceedings and from then on it was a blur of both sound and limbs. With an obvious camaraderie on stage, this is a band who know how to have fun. The crowd were having fun, too. It might’ve been hard to hear over the screeching guitars and bursts of saxophone, but people were singing along. And it didn’t go unnoticed either, with lead singer Jay Schottlander in something close to disbelief. This was a first for a Knives gig in London – “this place f*cking hates us”, according to the band. I’m not sure what previous run-in’s they’ve had with London, but it wasn’t true this night. As they closed us out with ‘Doppelganger’, there was nothing but a whole load of excitement in this room.
Peter Xan
Having been raised in East London, Walthamstow if you want to be precise, the trip to Shoreditch would have probably been familiar for Peter Xan. And it certainly wouldn’t have been a long one. Whether Xan was actually familiar with this stage or not, on this night the Old Blue Last felt like his stomping ground. More people had managed to find their way into the upstairs room by the time he took to the stage, and Xan seemed to relish the opportunity. Immediately he was on the edge of the stage, and throughout he ended up hanging from a bar on the ceiling. ‘Empty Space’ was an early highlight, showcasing Xan’s genre-crossing abilities alongside his appetite for more classic rock sounds. With his feet back on the ground, he asks the crowd if we’re ready, and despite a fairly strong response of cheers, Xan’s retort is “we’ll get there”. Clearly he wanted more from this audience. We would indeed get there, though. Tracks like ‘For The Weekend’ and ‘Nicotine’ leaned into his more indie sensibilities and slowed things down a bit, but demonstrated Xan’s ability to veer all over the place, sonically speaking, and still come out of it on the other side with a brilliant song and the audience still in the palm of his hand. Despite this change of pace, things would get cranked up again for the final half of the set, and by the end he would be asking for security to lock the doors and calling for a mosh pit. We were more than happy to oblige.
Talk Show
Vocalist and guitarist Harrison Swann walks onto stage wearing a La’s t-shirt. If anyone in the crowd was expecting something akin to the scouser’s jangle-pop they would be sorely mistaken. And rudely awakened, too. It was all guns blazing right from the very start, and with their mix of punk, techno and electronic music, it would’ve been a surprise otherwise. “It’s been a very long time since we’ve been here, and it’s a pleasure to be back” Swann tells us. He doesn’t say too much else before diving into ‘Got Sold’, and fairly soon after that he’s ditching the t-shirt. One thing has remained constant amongst all three bands – we’re getting sweaty tonight. ‘Red/White’ is as close as we get to any form of respite, with its ambient, electronic ending giving us a chance to catch our collective breath. But before long, we’re back to sweat-inducing normality. The crowd are now finding their voice again, joining in with Swann on a few tracks. It’s no big surprise then that another mosh pit forms; it’s a common sight for the band, and tonight is no different. As they close out the night with the excellent ‘Leather’, Swann decides to get involved, descending into the crowd for one final push. Pints are spilled, the air is heavy, but there are smiles on faces and glints in eyes. It’s safe to say we got what we came for.
The Great Escape festival returns to Brighton this May. Find tickets here
