LIVE REVIEW: Lake Malice & Blackout Problems @ Downstairs At The Dome, London
It’s the tail end of a run criss-crossing the UK and Europe, and for a change of pace tonight’s show is in fact a co-headliner, without a new support act added so both acts, LAKE MALICE and BLACKOUT PROBLEMS, can really stretch their legs.
LAKE MALICE have firmly cemented themselves as rising stars in the UK scene, and tonight promises one of their longest set to date with a number of new songs to be debuted. It’s a huge shame that they’re greeted by a barely half full room given its downgrade from the larger Dome upstairs, too, but they clearly aren’t cowed by it. An unnamed opener is followed by the raging Black Turbine, the onstage trio pouring every ounce of energy they have out.
Guitarist Blake Cornwall is on particularly hyperactive form, barrelling round and sometimes off the tiny stage with abandon. Despite the turnout, there’s plenty energy offstage too, the pit opening during Black Turbine and barely letting up. “Does anyone know what a Magic Square is? No, us neither,” vocalist Alice Guala laughs before its riff kicks the crowd in the teeth, while Creepers is dedicated to Donald Trump, middle fingers raised to the misogynist vitriol that spewed out online following his election in America.
New songs are a treat and they point to a fascinating future for the group, with one’s verses propelled forwards by a CHARLI XCX-like beat amidst metalcore riffs and soaring melodies while another grooves and swaggers its way through the room. There’s more than a few familiar faces to them as Guala gratefully points out mid-set, and the trio revel in it and the energy exchange, delivering a formidable set that showcases their unique identity and sound.
Rating: 9/10
German pop-rock outfit BLACKOUT PROBLEMS rocket out the gate with DNA and Whales, their polished, electronic-driven hooks getting arms waving and people jumping from the outset. Then there’s a raucous snippet of PENDULUM’s remix of THE PRODIGY’s Voodoo People into Driveby, that sets the room dancing. The quartet onstage are a well-oiled machine together, and it shows in their easy camaraderie as they exchange glances or grins throughout, or checking in on a stage diver who makes their way onstage during a song intro.
There’s an odd moment where they stop a song just as it’s getting started, one that nearly robs them of momentum as it seems they’re stopping for an injury – but it turns out they just wanted more people jumping and they get it, restarting with enough people bouncing to make the floor move. It isn’t immediately obvious, the fit between the two bands on the tour, but when LAKE MALICE join BLACKOUT PROBLEMS onstage for their collaborative single Quicker Than Death it becomes far clearer, the two groups melding styles to create a drum n bass, pop-rock anthem that loses neither of their identities and sets the room off.
It’s inarguably a highlight of the set, stage divers making their way up and back off frequently as the energy in the room reaches a fever peak. Following it with the ballad Stash, that’s stripped back into an acoustic number is bold, but lets the crowd gather their breath for a second wind during the set’s remainder. The venue being scaled down might not be ideal, but it makes this more special for their diehard fans that spend the night having the time of their lives.
Rating: 8/10
Check out our photo gallery of the night’s action in London from Anne Pfalzgraf here:
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