LIVE REVIEW: Plini @ Islington Assembly Hall, London

It wouldn’t be amiss to suggest that in 2018, the realm of progressive music has become somewhat over-saturated with the familiar formula of bedroom-based, instrumental shred-core. However, be this as it may, the true arbiters of the style simply must not be disregarded. Bearing striking resemblance to greats such as Steve Vai and Jimi Hendrix whilst positing a notably refreshing approach, Aussie aficionado PLINI first made his mark back in 2012, and now finds himself well on the way to the top of the progressive food chain, having inspired thousands en route. Following the much anticipated release of brand new, four-track offering Sunhead, the newly dubbed Plini + Friends collective has elected to embark on an extensive, European lap, omitting the UK but for a one-off, exclusive headline show at Islington’s prestigious Assembly Hall in London; a calibre of venue previously unheard of for this artist. With support acts Jakub Zytecki and TOSKA turning up for the party, in addition to some pleasant, one-night-only additions to the aforementioned ‘and friends’ live band, PLINI claims this is to be his “biggest headline show yet”.

Having already gained a degree of status through his endeavours with the fantastic DISPERSE, in addition to what appears to be his permanent role in PLINI‘s touring collective, the stage was very much set for Jakub Zytecki to capture hearts and minds through his debut UK solo performance. With the venue’s stalls approaching capacity already, Jakub‘s arrival was met with a strikingly warm ovation, as he proceeded to launch into a thirty-minute exertion of deft, delicate musicianship. Accompanied by bass, drums, and the dynamic addition of two synthesizers, a rich, eclectic wall of sound was effortlessly achieved, Zytecki‘s remarkably clean fretwork quite fittingly proving to be the main spectacle. Whilst the drum mix admittedly felt bland and washed out, and the bass barely audible at times, this rather lent itself to the crux of the performance; perhaps a contrived effort to allow Jakub to take centre-stage (despite quite literally lingering at stage-left for the duration) and enable his stunningly well-executed arpeggios to glide up and down the room. With the welcome addition of a few soft, atmospheric backing vocals performed by Jakub himself, this proved to be a significantly entertaining and successful UK debut from Jakub Zytecki, his welcoming crowd reception at the beginning being topped tenfold upon his exit, with the London faithful well and truly primed for the arrival of main-support act TOSKA.

Rating: 9/10

Brighton trio TOSKA are a fairly fresh face on the progressive metal scene. Regardless, having been granted the honour of appearing as PLINI‘s main-support, the outfit assertively took to the stage at 8:30PM sharp, greeted by another significantly warm welcome, and proceeding to power through forty minutes of material. With the room close to brimming and the crowd very much in the mood by this point, TOSKA‘s impact immediately felt prodigious in comparison with their predecessor, their amalgam of prog and post-rock conveying as truly grandiose. Though a different stylistic approach entirely, their performance instantly struck as an improvement on Zytecki, but strictly in terms of balance; each instrument felt defined and resonant, and the final mix was presented as raw, natural, and expertly weighted, each component deftly panned, resulting in a truly binaural effect. This being said, depending on personal preference and circumstantial perception, TOSKA‘s greatest strength also proved to be perhaps their greatest flaw. Zytecki‘s and PLINI‘s music, whilst expertly composed, carries countless characteristics of unequivocally digestible music, featuring bass and guitar solos, repetition of hooks, and more of a traditional sense of formula; however, much of TOSKA‘s approach is comprised of elements akin to post-rock, whereby the songs take the shape of elongated, meandering pieces of music with lengthy build-ups and short, epic crescendos. From a certain perspective, this can convey as remarkably thoughtful and patient songwriting (and it certainly did to us), however the potential adverse effect is that it can, simply, become boring and disengaging. Ultimately, TOSKA‘s performance impressed us greatly, however a fair observation would be that perhaps they weren’t necessarily a snug fit in betwixt two reputable shred-masters.

Rating: 8/10

With both the stalls and balcony now undoubtedly at full, sold-out capacity, the time had finally come for the main event, with both PLINI and his full travelling circus taking to the stage, lights almost entirely dimmed but for a slender ray of white light gently illuminating the familiar moon-emblem backdrop. Wasting no time in commencing what ended up approaching ninety minutes of material, the outfit proceeded to rattle through a substantial set, fully clad with old fan-favourites, familiar hits from debut full-length Handmade Cities, in addition to the entirety of brand new EP, Sunhead.

The range of material was spectacularly executed, and the crowd reaction was equal to it, with PLINI‘s rhetorical, tongue-in-cheek instructions to “sing along if you know the lyrics” being met with unwavering obedience, large proportions of the crowd proceeding to wail each guitar note with unaccountably accurate falsetto, serving to create a truly wholesome and jovial ambience. Whilst we have little doubt that PLINI could effortlessly arrest the attention of 1000 people for an hour and a half in a solo capacity, this certainly wasn’t required on the night, as the familiar faces of bassist Simon Grove, drummer Chris Allison, and guitarist Jakub Zytecki were all abundantly present.

Characteristically, each member was proverbially on fire, with Grove helping to form the spine but also sporadically veering off into a torrent of tapping or soloing, Allison‘s drumming proving remarkably robust and never letting the rhythm drop for even a millisecond, and Zytecki exerting every iota of the same deftness we’d already seen earlier that night. This is, of course, the typical, constituent make-up of the new-age, PLINI collective, however, for one night only, PLINI‘s ‘friends’ were not limited to just three: as if proceedings needed to be any more epic, resident saxophonist for THE 1975, John Waugh, and original pianist from PLINI‘s EP trilogy Luke Martin, were both intermittently featured on the night, at times helping to form a spectacular, sprawling, six-piece orchestra. Waugh‘s contribution proved utterly invaluable at times, appearing on stage for two songs, including Sunhead‘s third track Flâneur, on which he originally featured, performing an impossibly smooth, jazz-laden solo, and injecting a new dynamic entirely.

Martin‘s appearance was equally magical, performing his own piano sections from songs such as Other things, Wombat Astronaut, and Away, creating a spritely sense of vigour perfectly reminiscent of the original records, something typically absent from the average PLINI performance. This being said, it would of course be completely amiss to not pass judgement on the man himself, and so, as predicted, PLINI was virtually flawless from start to finish. As has become truly characteristic, his technicality and precision consistently shone through, his stage presence was assertive and arresting, and perhaps more importantly, the beaming smile on his face for the duration of the set acted as a romantically quintessential microcosm for the entire band’s performance. Though eagerly anticipated and boldly dubbed as their “biggest headline show yet”, it’s fair to say that this performance from PLINI + Friends proved to be every bit as magical as we expected.

Rating: 10/10

Check out our stunning photo gallery from the night’s action in London from Karolina Janikunaite here: