aaamusic | On 25, Oct 2010

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London, 20th October

The Borderline is filled with a thick, dense sense of expectation tonight, as I haven’t experienced in a while. As Young Rebel Set walk on stage everything pauses until the first riffs of Down The Line kick in and everyone is eventually allowed to breathe and cheer the band up. Surreal atmosphere for this increasingly popular seven pieces band, which names as influences the likes of Springsteen and The Pogues and makes super use of the mandolin, harmonica and keys.

Matty Chipchase vocals are warm and enchanting; he is a leader, but happily shares the spotlight with the rest of the gang. The set is quite tight and lively: everyone is dancing and truly having a good time. The band also introduces the newly released single Measure of a Man to the avid audience, which also included Steve Lamacq and by the reactions it can be easily said that it’s going to be a winter hit.

The lively and energetic set is put temporary to rest by the ballad Red Bricks – my favourite track of the set – which enables Chipchase vocals to unveil their full power. Beautifully crafted, it is perhaps their most interesting and original track, standing out mainly because it steps out of the saturated Americana/folk genre which achieved popularity with the likes of Mumford & Sons and embraces something that, despite not being original, at least is not fully poisoned. The set closed with Walk On and it is a triumph: the crowd loved every single bit of it and so did I, happy to witness the first headline effort of a band destined to make it big in the UK in the near future.

Setlist:

DOWN THE LINE
ALREADY FORGOTTEN YOUR NAME
MEASURE OF A MAN
FALL HARD
BORDERS
WON’T GET UP AGAIN
RED BRICKS
PRECIOUS DAYS
LION’S MOUTH
IF I WAS
WALK ON

Author: James Cane

Photos: Alessia Matteoli