Live Review: Winterhours / Champs @The Stillery

On the periphery of Camden Town lies the recently opened venue, The Stillery. The Venue itself is minimal and dimly lit which, in turn, creates a warehouse atmosphere – must be good for club nights.

Now, music time! Support act Winterhours have been kicking their own brand of Americana around London and Hampshire for a couple of years now and very good at it they are too. The crisp vocals and melodies captivated attentions as the crowd trickled in and by the end of their set they’ve definitely won over more than a few new fans in the crowd.

Champs - Band Live REview

Meanwhile, Isle of Wight’s favourite sons, Champs sound like a sparkling combination of Coldplay, The Beach Boys, Kings of Leon and Tape The Radio. Well-constructed vocal harmonies, original melodies and quirky guitar riffs laced with effects pedals aplenty. Live, the brothers Michael and David Champion are aided sonically by a drummer delivering a set of mellow tunes and upbeat, anthemic Indie Rock smashers.

As they play I enter a near hypnotic state and I’m transported to a plethora of locations. Perhaps the most pleasant and tranquil scene I imagined during their set was; driving on a dual carriageway in a beautiful ruby red VW camper van, the sun standing boldly in the centre of a cloudless blue sky, my windows wound down – allowing the fresh breeze to brush over my scalp and through my hair, nothing around me apart from open water – that sparkles like a clear diamond that’s being held under a fluorescent light – on my left and golden sands on my right. Not bad going for a cold night in NW1.

New release, ‘Desire’ is up for “Favourite Track” on this week’s BBC Radio 6 Music’s ‘Rebel Playlist’. Have a listen to the track and if you like it, throw a vote their way. Expect big things.

For more info visit
https://www.facebook.com/champschampschamps

Vix Russell

The name's Russell, Victoria Russell, but please do call me Vix. The things in life that keep me smiling are:- Music (predominantly EDM, but partial to some Einaudi and Country), food, films and dressing up in a morph suit and running around town, imagining that I'm a vigilante. Follow me on Twitter HERE