A support slot for a band as prominent in the scene as Inhaler are right now pulls in a lot of pressure for putting on a good show; Blondes rose to the occasion and delivered an excellent set at the Leadmill before the headline act, bringing the crowd into the atmosphere of the gig and preparing us for the night ahead.
The five-piece indie rock outfit showed a great level of energy and charisma over the course of their set, displaying a sound similar to that of The Backseat Lovers, The Night Cafe, or Spacey Jane that got the crowd moving early on in their set.
The band is set apart from the genre standards by having 3 guitars instead of 2, allowing for a much thicker overall tone or more complicated multi-guitar parts, giving a summertime feel to their music. These guys seem like they would fit perfectly into a Boardmasters line-up or something of that vibe.
The band played their new single ‘beautiful world’, proving that there were quite a few pockets of people in the crowd who had done their research for the support set, singing and dancing along to this track that sounds like something straight out of an indie coming of age film in the best way possible.
Another single that went down well was the recently released ‘the basement’ a faster paced and upbeat track that got people in the crowd moving more than any other in their set. This track featured one of Blondes main draws, an excellent chorus tone from their guitars that is present on quite a few of their tracks, enhancing the summertime vibe that these guys bring to the stage.
The singles being released at the moment are all in the build up to the release of Blondes new EP coming out this summer, the first track off of the EP ‘Love in the afternoon’ is a brilliant example of just how good these guys are, delivering sunny vibes through overdriven and chorus effected guitars fronted by soft vocals. If this is anything to base the whole EP on, it will be one of the best released this year.
After their stint with Inhaler, the band are going on to play with the folk-rock group Mt. Joy in mid June, big things seem to be coming up for Blondes and I, for one, cannot wait to hear what they do next.