aaamusic | On 08, Oct 2011

London, 24.09.11

With a happily inebriated Saturday night crowd mixed merrily with smatterings of DB ‘Summer Love’ T-shirt sporting teeny-boppers and the regular melange of diehard fans and musos alike, the scene is set for Van Susans’ biggest gig to date.

The IndigO2, with a not to be sniffed at 3K capacity was filled to a point at which you could hear yourself think whilst still enjoying the camaraderie of mutual musical revelrie. The fact that Van Susans can fill a venue of this size after a mere year together is a feat in itself.
Origin open the evening using their mix of 80’s nu-wave and funk-rock to get the crowd suitably hot under the collar with their frontman’s energy and Morrisey-cum-Johnny Ray image suiting their sound to a T.

Their performance was a master class in wall-of-sound power chord simplicity and stage theatrics with a solid set list briefly let down by new track ‘Michael J Fox’ whose naive chorus grated.

Next up, to squeals of delight from the barely legal ladettes, was the much hyped Daniella Brooker whose saccharine single ‘Summer Love’ has garnered extensive airplay and boosted her profile. To her credit she’s not just a one trick pony and judging by the increased confidence in her vocal range she’s put a lot of work into her performance and artistry since the press release of her summer single back in June where she would rely more on her main asset; her Anastasia-esque deep soulful lungs.

To highlight this point she sang an almost acapella tune for her grandfather, albeit in Spanish and not a chart-botherer. Also of note was new track ‘18’ that reminded us both that she is not just talented but has only recently turned 18. However, suffice to say ‘Summer Love’ was the real crowd pleaser from what could be described as a great set.

Headliners Van Susans were next to take to the stage with their infectious, relaxed charm belying the importance of the event and it goes without saying there couldn’t be a more dramatic change of musical output than that of Daniella Brooker’s Pop to the folk rock of this six-piece, but thanks to their aforementioned charm the transition is seamless.

Van Susans kicked off without much ado with a lesser known track, but it still went down well with a receptive audience many of whom were the Summer Love supporters which goes to show the broad range of appeal that this six-piece has.

Next up was ‘Cha Cha Bang’ which being the lead track off EP ‘We Could be Scenery’ is arguably their strongest track and so was a highlight as were the absurdly catchy sing-a-long performances of ‘Bones’ and ‘Plans’. That is not to say that the crowd wasn’t treated to a varied set, as new track ‘Rat Race’ (to be included in the upcoming album, the uncertain release date of which can no doubt be a source of consternation at times for their growing fan base) was of a more sedate nature, containing greater emotional depth than the usual more happy-go-lucky fare that one associates with this band.

Lead singer Olly Andrews later sung alone a rather touching tribute called ‘All because of you’ accompanied by piano and violin though to whom it was addressed I am unaware; it still silenced the audience with its heartfelt tenderness.

Van Susans then reverted to tracks more akin to their usual song writing formula to close off the evening and there’s no doubt that the set ended on a high note.

Guy Waddington