Photo: Press
From the surge of indie bands to burst onto the scene over the last few years, it is relatively safe to give Swim Deep the title of the ‘One Direction of the indie world.’ If anyone needed proof of this, you just had to look down at the Shepherd’s Bush Empire standing area to see the surging and screaming fan girls desperate to get close to the band about to play their biggest ever headline show in the capital.
Emerging on stage with the Jurassic Park soundtrack behind them, the West Midlands outfit jumped straight into fan favourites ‘Francisco’ and ‘Honey.’ The atmosphere was intense, the band were more than up for the occasion and the appearance of pin-up bass player Cavan McCarthy was enough to send 15-year-old girls into meltdown.
Swim Deep’s live performance though, soon became all too familiar with their debut album ‘Where the Heaven Are We.’ When the album is good it is great, but there are a few too many weak tracks that similarly don’t come across as well on stage. Even an outing of the excellent bonus album track ‘Crush’ is not enough to kick start the early stages of the gig and there is a feeling that the excited, surging teen audience is more interested in the thought of being there as opposed to actually being in attendance.
The introduction of The Choir with No Name for ‘Soul Trippin’ was an odd one as the backing singers didn't really add much, however the performance certainly stepped up a few notches with a euphoric rendition of ‘The Sea.’ This was followed by a cover of the Cyndi Lauper classic ‘Girl’s Just Want to Have Fun.’ Everyone in the Empire was dancing and smiling and it then felt like Swim Deep were finally owning the stage as a party atmosphere swept right through the venue.
‘Stray’ and ‘Intro’ kept things going before the five boys (a live keyboard player included) called upon their best song to finish. ‘She Changes the Water’ acts as the beautiful decoration on top of an average cake. The pick of the tracks on the album, on stage the song sounds even better; with an extended introduction and a full band breakdown for the finale it was a really great way to end proceedings.
After thanks a-plenty from frontman Austin, the band were quick to reappear for an encore in which they were joined by support act Wolf Alice for a one-off song before ending the night proper with ‘King City.’ The woo’s and waa’s that define the song’s chorus were loud and infectious and as the confetti cannons opened fire, three members of the Swim Deep clan soon found themselves diving into the crowd to end the gig aptly.
