Live Review: Such Gold, Our Time Down Here, Koji and Starters- Fighting Cocks, Kingston 19/2/11

First off, I should begin by just mentioning that The Fighting Cocks in Kingston is one of the UK’s best venues, and for a line up such as this, it’s absolutely perfect.

I got to the venue midway through the impressive Starters set, and the great reception they were receiving was just as indicative of how they were playing, and ending on “Fight or Flight” was inspired, unfortunately I hadn’t listened to Starters that much prior to this show, but as an outcome they are genuinely on my list of bands to watch.

Next up was Koji, a man that plays a genre of music, that I guess is unexpected for a tour line up such as this, that being said, he slotted in absolutely perfectly, despite the incessant talking of those rude few in the merch area, Koji overcame this and produced a powerful performance that won over a fair few fans, the solo version of “Eating Lemons” is always a highlight and his performance was my surprise favourite of the show, I’d really recommend having a listen to this guy and I hope it’s not too long before he finds his way back over here.

Our Time Down Here took to the floor next, and it soon became clear that this band have an absolutely great following, from the moment they started playing the crowd basically went a bit nuts, screaming every word back to front man, Will Gould, it was clear to see that the band were so grateful of the response, and it was deserved too, because the energetic performance that was put in was outstanding, despite the sometimes unrecognisable yelping of the lyrics but I guess that’s just part and parcel of an high tempo set.

To come over to the UK on a headline tour with only two EP’s under your belt, is a true testament to the quality of your music and as Such Gold show they are well worth the hype, from the moment they start playing until the end of their set, their energy does not let up even once, the room in The Fighting Cocks had adequately filled up and the vast majority were going nuts for Such Gold, it’s clear that the whole energy in the room is going straight to the band to provide a more intense and enjoyable show, songs such as the brilliant “Gutrot” receive an outstanding reception while cementing it’s place as one of my all time favourite live songs.

All in all, this tour is brimming with quality, and I can only hope that anyone that reads this will head out and support these bands on one of their remaining UK dates, you won’t regret it.

4.5/5

Remaining dates:

24th - Eauzone, Sudnerland*
25th - The Parish, Huddersfield*
26th - The Macbeth, London*
27th - Unit Club, Southampton* Note: Change of venue/location.
28th - Harris Hall, Andover*

March
1st - Innocent, Hengelo, Holland
2nd - Roots Club, Moenchengladbach
3rd - The Chillout, Hochst, Austria
4th - TBC, Regensberg
5th - TBC, Hannover
6th - TBC, High Wycombe (w/ Hostage Calm, Basement + Daylight)
7th - The White Rabbit Plymouth
8th - Soundhouse, Northampton
9th - Wagon and Horses, Birmingham
10th - TBC, Galway
11th - Pop Punk Still Lives #2 - The Pint, Dublin
*Denotes Koji as support

Words by Chris Marshman