LIVE REVIEW: Cassyette @ Clwb Ifor Bach, Cardiff
Cardiff’s Clwb Ifor Bach has had the privilege of hosting a number of up-and-coming musicians that have made it huge within a couple of mere years after their appearance at, arguably, one of Wales’ most famous venues. The latest act to no doubt join that list is the latest offering of hardcore rock is CASSYETTE.
Opening the proceedings of the evening, and the entire tour, is South London’s KID BOOKIE. He offers a strong start to the evening, even if he decides to perform a cover of Creep – a song that doesn’t match his style and genre in the slightest. It may be an odd choice but it’s a song that the entire room knows and will sing along with – looking around and seeing the entirety of the audience wailing along makes you realise that this is less of an impulse decision and a lot more calculated. While on stage KID BOOKIE performs with an unbelievable speed, rapping along to the verses with a speed that is unmatched by most other artists that consider themselves ‘rappers’.
Between songs he keeps up with this speed and rambles about anything and everything, related to the songs it is sandwiched between or not. His speeches become so frequent and go further and further away from the original point that not only does the audience not have a clue what he’s talking about, but there’s a 90% chance that he is in the same boat himself as he talks. Regardless, he brings his own brand of rap metal to the stage and with his support band, makes sure that the audience are well and truly warmed up. The audience themselves don’t seem to get the memo, however, and are rather ungiving, choosing not to move until what is practically the end of his set when KID BOOKIE himself drags a microphone stand and his guitar into the middle of the crowd and doesn’t give them a choice.
Rating: 6/10
After an uncomfortable wait in what must be one of the unseasonably hottest rooms in Wales, it is finally time for CASSYETTE to take to the stage and she wastes absolutely no time in getting stuck in. Her energy is turned up to a solid 11 right from the beginning and she does nothing but accelerate from there. She performs with a ferocious tenacity, beginning her set with the pounding bass drum of Dear Goth, which is closely followed by Behind Closed Doors – the combination of these together is just begging for the crowd to lose their minds and they happily oblige. There is an eerie silence as the breakdown builds for the latter, as the crowd willingly prepares themselves for carnage. Accompanied by CASSYETTE’s guttural screams, they willingly throw themselves around the room, those that don’t wish to get involved pressing against the walls as the pit envelopes the entire room.
In a bid to calm them down, the sombre opening guitar of September Rain begins to play but performing her biggest hits back-to-back does nothing to quell the fire within the room. A rendition of Falling Down by LIL PEEP (made famous by TikTok) seems like a sharp departure from the rest of her tracks but the audience are so enthusiastic that they just simply do not care. Their energy doesn’t dwindle in the next hour in the slightest, even after performances of Mayhem, Dead Roses and Petrichor that have them non-stop pitting and singing along so loudly that even those in the quiet bar area downstairs would get goosebumps. The hour that CASSYETTE is on stage seems entirely too short and the audience agrees, not even giving the band chance to get off stage before they’re chanting for “one more song”.
While all of her material may be exhausted, she comes back out for an encore of Dear Goth that seems to go even harder than the last time we heard it at the beginning of the set. The pounding bass drum and frantic jumping on and off stage does nothing but fuel the energy in the room, with performer and audience alike feeding off one another. In a short 60 minutes, CASSYETTE has managed to prove to fans and sceptics alike that she is a force to be reckoned with. She has an infectious energy that most of the room can’t help but connect with and enhances her performances. Whilst she may be a talented vocalist and songwriter, she is also an extremely talented performer and makes it blatantly obvious that she’s having the time of her life. The festival circuit needs to get ready for CASSYETTE because the way she can command a room of this size with no issues makes it clear that she is more than ready for the mainstream.
Rating: 9/10
Check out our photo gallery of the night’s action in Cardiff from Cariad Myer Photography here:
Like CASSYETTE on Facebook.