LIVE: Moose Blood, Milk Teeth, Weak Nerves @ Old Blue Last, London

By Glen Bushell

Moose Blood are big deal right now. Actually, its safe to say that Moose Blood are one of the biggest deals to happen to the UK music scene in recent memory. Their new album ‘I’ll Keep You In Mind, From Time To Time’ is a perfectly crafted body of work that delivered in every way possible, and lived up to expectations from fans and critics alike. It proved that they are more than just a hype band, and is the culmination of the last two years of hard work by this young band from Canterbury. Tonights show is the last of 4 shows across the weekend to mark the release of the album, and in this tiny East London venue, 150 people are welcomed to join them in their celebrations. Speaking with some of the lads before hand it is clear that they make no pretence about their rising popularity, and find the whole experience quite humbling as they are about to take the nerve-wrecking next step of leaving jobs and stability to pursue their dream full-time. Well, Oscar Wilde once wrote “We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars”, and if tonights performance is anything to go by, the stars may not be out of  Moose Blood’s reach for much longer.

Starting tonight’s proceedings are fellow Kent natives Weak Nerves, and the room is already at boiling point as they launch into their grunge laden punk rock. They play a raucous 30 minute set, that bares resemblance to Dinosaur Jr, with the swagger of Pixies, and they even throw in a storming cover of ‘Tourettes’ by Nirvana which is the icing on the cake of their nostalgic 90’s vibe.

Keeping the grunge theme of the evening going are Bristol’s Milk Teeth, who take to the stage with an ear-drum shattering blast of feedback and screeching guitars. The dual male/female vocal and off-kilter rhythms straddle the lines between Pity Sex, and noise rock kings Sonic Youth, as they flail around the stage as if they are playing to no-one yet enchanting everyone. With an upcoming jaunt on the UK leg of the Balance and Composure tour, we are sure to be seeing a lot more from this mind-blowing – and loud – young band. Both support bands do a perfect job of warming the crowd up, and no doubt will have won themselves a new set of fans, although tonight is about one thing, and one thing only.

The air of anticipation for Moose Blood hitting the stage has been in the atmosphere since before the doors opened, and as the boys launch into ‘Bukowski’, the Old Blue Last is theirs for the taking. The audience hangs on frontman Eddy Brewerton’s every word through ‘Evening Coffee’, and the fact that ‘I’ll Keep You In Mind…’ had only been streaming online for a matter of days prior and everyone in the room is already singing back the words to new songs ‘I Hope You’re Missing Me’ and ‘Swim Down’ is proof just how much this band mean to people. ‘Stay Here’ from the split with Departures sends the crowd into a frenzy, and the pop-rock melody of ‘Pups’, prefixed by a moving dedication to Eddy’s father, warms every heart in the room. The smiles that are plastered across the faces of all four of the band tonight show just how appreciative they are of the support and adoration they receive from the crowd, as they bring the somber ‘I Hope You’re Miserable’ to life on the stage, which is a calm before the storm of the utter pandemonium that ensues during fan-favourite ‘Boston’,  as people clamber over one another to get near the stage to join in the mass sing-a-long for the chorus. The audience had still not quite had enough despite it feeling hotter than the surface of the sun in the venue, as they end on the fantastic anthem ‘Carbis Bay’.

Tonight was a special evening for everyone in attendance as it was filled with the bands family members, friends, and loyal fans. There was a warm feeling of joy about the place, and with ‘I’ll Keep You In Mind, From Time To Time’ being universally lauded as a modern classic already, this show will be remembered as the night that the little emo band from Kent bid farewell to the past, and embark on the next stage of what will no doubt be an amazing adventure for them.