It’s the final night on Bloxx’s extensive UK tour, and The Portland Arms in Cambridge is uncomfortably warm before the band even takes to the stage. Some fans stand coolly with a beer in hand, while others bounce on the balls of their feet with their parents in pure anticipation and excitement of the hour that is to follow. Bloxx are a fairly new band on the scene, but they’ve certainly made their mark over the past year or so, filling 2018 with festival slots that catalysed their growth.
And it’s well deserved, too. This is a band that know how to write a catchy song while maintaining the alternative label that’s been placed on them; they’re cool, yet don’t allow this coolness to mask their joy at being here this evening. Just two songs into the set, lead singer Ophelia acknowledges how great an end to tour this night is already turning out to be.
As fans sing along enthusiastically, the ground shakes as they simultaneously jump as high as the cramped venue will allow. The energy from the crowd is reflected in the band members, too, as the masses of hair that each member of Bloxx possesses is already dripping with sweat. On more than one occasion, Ophelia requests that a towel be brought to her – a request that is never fulfilled.
Scattered among performances of the band’s presently released tracks such as ‘Coke’, ‘Novocaine’ and ‘Monday’ are unreleased tracks that garner almost as much excitement as the former. Whether it’s ‘Answer Machine Blues’ – which we can expect to hear on the upcoming debut album – or a spoken word song that Ophelia describes as being “more like an experience at a service station”, the energy never once wavers, highlighting the incredible stage presence and talent that this band possesses.
Bloxx are a force to be reckoned with, and with plenty more festival appearances lined up for this coming summer, it won’t be long before intimate shows such as those at The Portland Arms are a distant memory.
YASMIN BROWN