LIVE REVIEW: Spiritbox @ O2 Academy Islington, London
Imagine: it’s the day after the first ‘real’ Download Festival since 2019. One of the most hotly anticipated bands are playing their first ever UK headline show in the heart of London, and it sold out instantly. With a surge of popularity during multiple lockdowns, Canadian metal band SPIRITBOX exploded into the mainstream with their own brand of melodic djent-y goodness, so it really is a real shock if you haven’t somehow managed to hear their name uttered among festivalgoers and music gurus over the last two years.
Opening the proceedings of what would be an otherwise quiet Monday was Hertfordshire foursome VEXED. They come right at the sweet spot of the resurgence of progressive metal and constantly prove repeatedly that they are one of the most exciting new bands in the UK. An otherwise sleepy audience that is worn out from a weekend of festival excitement is woken straight up by vocalist Megan Targett’s vicious vocals. Her venom-filled low growls reverberate throughout the entire room and seems to put the audience into a trance, one that is only broken by her soaring and razor-sharp melodies. Targett is joined on stage by an incredible instrumental section, with Jay Bacon on guitar leading each progressive riff to a studio quality, Al Harper on bass giving the songs the pulsating low-end they so desperately need to resonate with the audience, and powerhouse drummer Willem Mason-Geraghty keeping everything driving forward with an extremely impressive amount of energy and skill. This band is hard as nails and have proved that they are born to play these bigger stages and deliver the sucker punch that is their aggressive grooves & atmosphere to audiences of thousands.
Rating: 9/10
Up next is four-piece STATIC DRESS. Over the last year they’ve managed to bag tours with FUNERAL FOR A FRIEND and KNOCKED LOOSE, and appearances at BRING ME THE HORIZON’s Malta Weekender. Just at this gig alone, they are fresh from an appearance at Download Festival but after witnessing their set its absolutely no shock that they’ve managed to work with so many big names already. They quite literally explode onto stage with frontman and lead singer Olli Appleyard jumping around like there are springs attached to his shoes – it’s quite impressive how much air he can manage to get. They get lost in their own performance and allow the audience to do the same, reaping the successes of the last few months with the release of sophomore album Rogue Carpet Disaster back in May. They may be a support band, but they are not just any support band, drawing in their own group of fans that make every effort to sing along with every word and crowd surf when told to. They have an infectious energy, and their upbeat punk-y music gives the audience something to truly get lost in for a few minutes; exactly what most of us look for in a gig. They are an extremely well-oiled machine, leaving the talking between songs for the other bands as they simply play their music for a room full of adoring fans, both old and new. As can be said for every other band playing this evening, STATIC DRESS are destined to move on to bigger and better things, with this being just the start for them.
Rating: 9/10
After all of this excitement, the audience should surely be tired out by now but the opening atmospheric notes of Circle With Me acts as an alarm clock as SPIRITBOX waste no time in reminding us why we are all here. Playing a majority of their debut album Eternal Blue is not a bad move in the slightest – at this point, the audience would be happy to listen to them play nursery rhymes. It’s been that long in the making. Vocalist Courtney LaPlante shows us exactly why she is just so good, switching flawlessly between gutturals and haunting meolides in tracks like Hurt You and Yellowjacket. Unfortunately, ARCHITECTS’ Sam Carter doesn’t make an appearance to perform his feature on the album, which may be the only negative from their performance. But we can’t all have what we wish for, can we?
She isn’t just a ‘heavy’ vocalist either. She lets her vulnerable side show through her heavenly vocals on Constance, a song about loss and something that we can all relate to after the last few years. Guitarist Mike Stringer does an excellent job at bringing his songs to life in the way they were meant to be consumed. As pieces of music to listen to on streaming services, its perfect but it is even better in person in a crowd full of other sweaty fans screaming the lyrics with you.
The rhythm section keeps things surging forward with Josh Gilbert on bass and backing vocals, filling in as the band’s bassist for the time being. After seeing the sheer amount of energy and passion he puts into his performance, he really is the only person that could act as a replacement for the previous Bill Crook. Right at the back of the stage nearly completely hidden by his drum kit is Zev Rosenberg, who keeps the set going with a thunderous force. He truly is one of the best drummers in metal right now and at such a young age, there is quite literally nothing he can do but improve.
It’s so easy to have that one hit song that people are drawn to – in SPIRITBOX’s case it would be 2020’s breakout hit Holy Roller or Circle With Me – but it’s another thing entirely to keep the audience’s interest piqued. SPIRITBOX have somehow managed to crack that formula, providing us with hit after hit that translates to something even better on stage. Like many others, we cannot stress enough just how good this band is and how much they need to be playing bigger stages to even more adoring fans.
Rating: 10/10
Check out our photo gallery of the night’s action in London from Megan Jenkins Photography here:
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