By Lily Cottrell
Confession: I hadn’t really listened to Los Campesinos! before I went to see them play Norwich’s Epic, I’d only heard a few songs and barely knew anything about them. I was definitely won over by their set, an hour of pure hits by a band that describes themselves as ‘your ex-girlfriend’s favourite band.’
Hometown heroes Other Half are the first to take to the stage. The hard-core punk trio are certainly one of the most exciting bands in Norwich at the moment. Incredibly funny and energetic, frontman Cal announces them as “Other Half, here for a laugh.”
Their energy is brilliantly angry and intense, the drums are loud and the guitars and bass are perfectly fuzzy. A brilliant band to set us up for a Friday evening filled with brilliant live music. It’s obvious they’re a band very much beloved by the local Norwich gig-goers, as the crowd was going crazy in a way I don’t think I’ve ever seen happen for a support act before.
Los Campesinos! walk on stage and I quickly realise that I’ve definitely been missing out on being a part of a very devoted fanbase that the band have, as pretty much everyone around me seems to know every lyric to every song. It’s hard to fully describe Los Campesinos! sonically, their earlier albums are more twee indie leaning while their later stuff has a more hardcore punky emo edge. Opening song ‘This Is How You Spell “HAHAHA, We Destroyed the Hopes and Dreams of a Generation of Faux Romantics”’ from their 2008 debut album Hold on Now, Youngster kicks off the set in pure indie rock style.
While their most well-known song, 2010’s anti-love anthem ‘Romance is Boring’ has the whole crowd bouncing. Their lyrics are incredibly honest, full of tales of romantic woe. There’s a real emotional intensity to their sound that comes through incredibly well live. Frontman Gareth Paisey says about how they’ve played Norwich a few times before, shouting out another local venue, Norwich Arts Centre. ‘kms’ from their latest album, 2021’s All Hell, sees keyboardist Kim Paisey take over the role of lead vocals for the verses, which are a brilliant mixture of both raw and heavenly. They treat us to a brilliant cover of Pavements ‘Frontwards’.
During the last song ‘Sweet Dreams, Sweet Cheeks’ Gareth gets into the crowd and heads straight to the self-serve Guinness machine at the back of the venue, pours himself a pint and then gets back on stage, which is probably one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen happen at a gig.
By the end of the gig I definitely understand why Los Campesinos! have the devoted fanbase they do, not only are they a brilliant band musically they also use their platform to speak up for marginalised communities, especially the trans community. This tour is celebrating their 20th year as a band, and two decades on, the UK’s first and only emo band are as brilliant and vital as ever.
