LIVE REVIEW: Spanish Love Songs & Pkew Pkew Pkew @ New Cross Inn, London
Both SPANISH LOVE SONGS and PKEW PKEW PKEW have seen their popularity shoot up with the release of their latest albums. There is a real celebratory vibe to this tour as a result with it wrapping up with a sold out show at London’s New Cross Inn.
PKEW PKEW PKEW are first up of the co-headliners tonight and set to deliver 45 minutes of the most insanely fun punk rock imaginable. Thirsty and Humble is a great start to their set and really sets the tone well. The vibe is just all about having a drink and good time with your mates; something almost everyone in the packed out New Cross Inn can relate to. It’s certainly not the most polished performance from the band and there are a fair few mistakes throughout the set but it just adds to the charm of what they do. This isn’t about delivering the most slick performance imaginable and the audience clearly don’t mind. They just wanna dance and sing along.
The highlights definitely come from the newer songs off of Optimal Lifestyles, the likes of 65 Nickels and I Wanna See a Wolf sounding even more rousing live. With this being the last night of the tour for PKEW PKEW PKEW they aim to just make it the most fun for them and that energy really just infects the crowd. It all builds to a completely random cover of By The Way which includes an appearance from SPANISH LOVE SONGS guitarist Kyle McAullay. It might have been an extremely scrappy set but it’s so hard to deny just how much fun PKEW PKEW PKEW are live.
Rating: 8/10
As good as PKEW PKEW PKEW were, it’s SPANISH LOVE SONGS who steal the show tonight. From the very start of Nuevo they have everyone singing their hearts out and this just kicks up another level when they immediately follow it with Sequels, Remakes & Adaptations. SPANISH LOVE SONGS really have upped the game when it comes to emotional music with their latest albums Schmaltz and this is even more evident live. The closing section of The Boy Considers His Haircut is so incredibly powerful tonight as Dylan Slocum really puts everything he has into his performance.
Some nasty behaviour from a few men in the crowd puts a slight dampener on the evening but the band quite rightly call this out and do what they can to put a stop to it. It certainly isn’t enough to derail SPANISH LOVE SONGS tonight who really are on the verge of something special. The set ends on a massive high note with Buffalo Buffalo, Aloha To No One and Beer & Niquil all getting amazing reactions from the crowd. It’s so clear that the fans they have already adore this band and their stock looks like it’s only going to rise in the future. Whenever they are back next it’s sure to be in considerably bigger venues than this.
Rating: 9/10