Gig Review: Basht. at Amersham Arms
Basht. take New Cross’ iconic Amersham Arms and make it their own for the evening
All Killer bring possibly the last time that you’ll get to see Ireland’s Basht. in a venue this small (indeed; their next is Camden’s iconic Koko), with an aim of raising funds for War Child. It’s a charity-driven event and they’ve enlisted local North London band Tough Cookie as support; with Bennie Jetz opening the evening at the iconic Amersham Arms – a reminder that there are other pubs in New Cross than New Cross Inn capable of hosting great music; thank you very much.
Tough Cookie are the first band that I can catch in full and having seen them open for Brighton’s Die Twice at the Mascara Bar with Brookie as fellow support act; another Irish band having their moment in the sun, and that’s good company to be in. With Tough Cookie it is impressive to see how confident and assured they are for such a new band. Whether it’s going through the vivid imagery of track opener ‘Sandcastles 2008’ that casts the mind back to the year that singer August’s family moved to England and watching the same mistakes be repeated over and over again creates a spellbinding impression of storytelling and plunges you into a whole world. Their debut of new song ‘Home Run’ goes down a storm – and ‘Emory’ captures the essence of teenage angst with its vivid guitars and vocals that aren’t afraid mix the poppier elements with a more indie twang. Dan, Gav and Jess on bass, drums and guitar only compliment each other and it won’t be long before they’re headlining events like this themselves – rapidly building a following among London’s indie scene and carving out space for themselves.
Basht. are aware of how hot it is – Amersham Arms is a sweatbox long before they turn up on stage. Frontman Jack Leavey is aware that they already have a loyal fanbase; and uses that to his advantage: “I wanna see you move,” he tells the crowd – turning the clapping into a chorus of its own. You know you’re going to get a rowdy crowd when one of the warm-up songs for the band is The Scratch, possibly Ireland’s liveliest band going – and Leavey is able to goad the crowd into combatting the heat for a bounce-fest that shows their ability to blow the roof of. This is the second time I have seen them live; on the back of an excellent performance at Rock Werchter, and the opportunity to see them at their own venue was too good to pass up on. It’s not indie – they’re clear of that – it’s rift driven rock and roll that moves and groves – making it very hard to pin down to one particular genre. One second you’re bedroom pop, one second you’re indie – the heavier songs make sure that they are never once put into a box. Think Radio Free Alice; think Wunderhorse – each band has an ability to try new things and this is the sound that Basht. have crafted out in their own unique space and sphere.
It is evident that the band are meticulous and consistently have a desire to evolve from the moment they come on stage – this set again feels entirely different from Werchter’s sun-drenched spectacle. Guitars shimmer and are filled with riffs as they go through this fiery, electric performance that really feels capable of blowing the roof off. They can, when they want to create an element of chaos factor that has an entire room bouncing – the blunt force statement of track ‘Keira Knightley’ may not be subtle, the chorus repeating Keira Knightley x3 over towards the back end of their set, but as a hook it draws the crowd in and is easy to singalong to. ‘Vermillion’ has the crowd a convert from the start – and ‘Burn’ raises the energy in the room. You get the feeling had it been a winter gig or in autumn the crowd would be even more energetic – but here; the fact that they do so much crowd work anyway is a testament to their brilliance as a band. You see echoes of Joy Division in some of their songs and especially Sex Pistols DNA in their rowdier elements; and like any indie rock Irish band going they have their Fontaines-esque claims – seeing that Esmeralda Road have supported them on tour makes perfect sense in the past; they’re very much part of the same umbrella of modern Irish music – a volatile sense of emotion and depth. It has time for inward warnings – with ‘Vain’ - a positive for progression and an opportunity to move beyond whilst not being afraid to self examine.
The pulse is engaging, unrelenting and has a style of confidence and swagger that bands only wish they could dream of capturing – when we get to ‘Wild Horses’ it feels progressive and introspective; a moment of realisation that hits with the agile speed and force. “But don’t let him lean in for a kiss, he’s probably pissed again,” Leavey warns – tapping into the emotions – “wild horses don’t stick around for heavy rain / so why would you stay when it was headed your way?” is a chorus and then some.
It’s evidently apparent that Basht. Have the skills, confidence and raw showmanship to go far. Suitably progressive and not afraid to start a riot – if they aren’t top of your list to see at Reading and Leeds you’re doing something wrong. With a debut album coming soon it’s never too late to get on the Basht. hype train – where else would you rather be?
Photo credit by @lewis.newman