Live Review: Saint Agnes, Crashface and Bex | The Garage, London | 25/01/2024
Having braved the elements, we found ourselves once more journeying to Highbury Corner for a surreal blend of intense heartiness and combative catharsis, with Saint Agnes’ fifth stop touring in support of their incredible second studio album, Bloodsuckers.
Bex
Opening the show with a somewhat brazen flamboyance, as they make their way through an intense purple haze; “punk’s newest Daughter” Bex, enters the stage and launches themselves into a half hour set supporting the recent release of their debut EP SCUM. As Bex indulges us with some quite shouty exuberance in select moments and being faced with a – dare we say it, rather underwhelming gaggle of early crowd members, a surprising air of indifference and standoffishness seems to wane over the majority of their performance, mainly when the fullest extent of their hyperactivity, immersion into elements of the bizarre and solid vocal delivery aren’t rightly claiming ownership over the spotlight.
Inhabiting what feels like quite an unwarranted offensive strategy, Bex’s finer moments conjures comparisons with the likes of early Lauren Tate/Hands Off Gretel, electro-less Cody Frost and The 5, 6, 7, 8’s though a little more wholesome while brandishing a bubble gun. Now, we know that it’s a dauntingly tall order to kick off the festivities and get a crowd on your side straight away, but for some reason the vibes seem increasingly uncomfortable; with certain tracks randomly including nursery rhymes and a laugh track which not-so-regrettably, makes one yearn for ‘That Laughing Track’ by Crookers, Style of Eye & Carli Löf to be blared over the speakers instead of what is on offer, it certainly doesn’t help the precariousness of the crowd’s attention which lingered for most of their stage time.
Although there’s no question that Bex is a good sport and rather fearless, especially when calling out a crowd with such utterings as “this is the type of music you dance to, I can see all your faces and I can’t see you dancing yet”, it’s unfortunate that such calls for much yearned hype seemed to fall on deaf ears for the most part. The peak of such rockiness came at the climax of Bex’s set, which seemed to end as abruptly as it began; as silence falls across the room post conclusion of their final song and Bex stands staring out into the darkness. A small group of cheers ring out before Bex thanks the crowd, and left abruptly following a mic drop.
Bex’s stint on the main stage is a valiant effort, however their set was quite a labour of lite-chaos burgeoning and fleeting petulance; it aroused very little desire to seek out their music and leaves one even less enthusiastic about sampling their slant on contemporary punk live in the near future. Although their time on stage was nowhere near a fail, Bex’s set certainly didn’t amount to greatness as far as a vibe check is concerned.
Photo Credit: James Gibbons
Crashface
Leaving the entire venue in a perpetual state of awe come the rather enchanting insanity of their set; the Penarth/London punk duo Crashface come, conquer and captivate the attention of all who seek the experience of a previously unknown pro. From the moment Charlie Hinton and Otto Balfour step out onto the stage, expectations of sonic elevation are low. It quickly became clear that they absolutely can bring the energy back up, come an intense paradigm shift as soon as the duo begin to perform.
With a mix of powerful clean vocals, impressively brutal instrumentals and a scream that would frighten even the most hardened of banshees, Crashface’s ability to command the room feels satisfying, almost like the occupants of The Garage are all placed under a spell. As all eyes are drawn to the stage, the pit showing signs of life and the band giving everything they have in order to enthral London with their most endearing brand of fury informed electro-madness, their set list feels naturally free flowing and the vibe feels fresh yet dangerously exciting. In fleeting moments it almost felt like we are standing in the eye of a sonic hurricane.
Watching them from afar strangely conjures images of the early days of Holding Absence or Boston Manor, whilst in the midst of an unrelenting attack of the senses. Throughout their set, the audience falls deeper and deeper for their charms and as soon as Charlie lets out his final screams, there isn’t a single pair of wide eyes in the house not hypnotised by his monstrous eruption and commitment for the craft. And just like that, their half hour set ended with another thud over the PA, this time with some worries as to whether or not the sound system would recover after how hard they played.
The duo took the room on a wild ride that truly took all away from anything and everything weighing on minds, captured imaginations and hit the cathartic sweet spot for unadulterated fury which was left to run amok all over that stage. They truly got the crowd in the mood for Saint Agnes to obliterate us mentally, emotionally and physically; it’s clear that great things are on the horizon for this band, not only because they’re one of the most impressive newly introduced live bands we’ve seen in a long while, but also because they strike us as having an unquenching thirst for more, more connection, more fury, more dominance of the mind with their infectious songs and undeniable synergy as together.
Photo Credit: James Gibbons
Saint Agnes
Marking just over 2 years since Saint Agnes tore The Garage apart with a truly inspired pre-Halloween extravaganza; it stands as an overly emotive experience for lead singer Kitty Austen, who revealed recently that the show was one of the first Saint Agnes played after the death of her beloved mother, who also in large part inspired the revelations of Bloodsuckers. This triumphant return to this much loved venue, is one of great anticipation due to the show being previously postponed, wonder due to the undeniable talent they have in their arsenal and lastly, expectation considering the lengths and feats this rock trio have faced over the past few years and yet, have come out the other side of it stronger than ever.
With an ominous pulsation making itself abundantly known, rumblings of the crowd’s excited anticipation take over as the trio plus their current touring bassist Maxine Cahill enters the stage with their latest album’s raging title track. As the unmistakable riff and sinister whisper tones of Kitty Austen’s enchanting vocals cut through the entire venue like a knife, the mounting instrumental from members Jon, Andy & Maxine feel like they were being juiced up by the energiser bunny.
Upon swiftly moving on through their set list, we find ourselves lovingly comparing their current performing style to that of the first time Saint Agnes performed their album Bloodsuckers live at The Black Heart in April of 2023. It’s impossible not be struck not only by how powerful and comfortable Kitty seemed returning to The Garage main stage, as her vocals and maniacal screams felt like they could have shook the earth to its core, especially during the climactic bridge of ‘Animal’, we are also reminded of just how scarily raw some Bloodsuckers tracks still remain.
‘At War With Myself’ is the kind of ruminating ticking time bomb that demands the attention of any and all who dare to bear witness to their slow descent into internalised chaos. While experiencing it live in 2023 it left the room utterly stunned and truthfully worried for Kitty’s wellbeing, due to just how affecting her brave yet painful expression was. The image and sonic equivalence to inner turmoil Saint Agnes shared with their home town crowd that day, has stayed with us ever since, due to the heavy doses of catharsis radiating out of every corner of that venue. Fast forward to now, their current rendition of the familiar battle for inner peace is just as poignant and exquisitely executed, the wrath filled creeping crescendo is just as a sinister yet beautifully cleansing as we allowed the lyrics to consume us like riptide.
Another instance of merit pertaining to the experience of a cleansing atmosphere, came from their ode to sorrowful remembrance dedicated to Kitty’s mother with ‘This Is Not The End’. As Kitty ventured out into the epicentre of their crowd followed by a lone white spotlight, one couldn’t help but feel deeply moved as Kitty belts out the first half of their grief ridden ballad, eye to eye with fans who circle her, transfixed by just how impeccably angelic she sounds. It leaves one us feeling like we are holding back a waterfalls flow.
As the set moved along, we becomes especially excited when the introductory riffs of SA’s now staple – Vampire, era single ‘Repent’ began to echo throughout the room. It’s at this point that Kitty welcomes Charlie Hinton of Crashface to the stage for a battle royale scream off. As soon as the iconic “I Will Make You Repent!” comes barrelling at us, The Garage falls into a state of enthralling pandemonium, which also leads to Kitty rallying the pit to a collective body for the final chorus, in order to fling herself into a crowd surf which keeps her half way across the room while Hinton’s impressively maniacal screams provide the sonic backdrop for the addictive madness to continue.
Keeping the energy alive, SA “finishes” their set with a spirited rendition of ‘Middle Finger’ before wishing us all a goodnight. At previous shows, lead guitarist Jon James Tufnell has made it clear that they didn’t do encores, so as the lights remain off and an air of ominous rumblings seem to make its way through the pit like a predator on the prowl. It soon became clear that the night was far from over. Soon enough, the band returns to a glorious wave of roars from the crowd as they launch themselves into their “actual” final track ‘Follow You’, followed by a final jubilant bow.
In thinking about the night’s events, a performing artists second nature is to not only express themselves to the fullest extent of their ability, but to also cultivate a space for their audience to journey through their own emotional availability. Saint Agnes have long been experts in maintaining that balance in a way that greatly differs to their contemporaries, they fearlessly latch onto their trauma’s and tragedies as a way of processing any and all emotions connected to their complex inner selves, then proceeds to invite us all in like willing group therapy members.
Their unique blend of top brass musicianship, potent tenacity, ferociousness and mounting confidence in their latest work is admirably palpable and especially exhilarating, considering the lengths they’ve come with their emotional relationship with their work since the last time we caught them live. Having experienced their brilliance on multiple occasions over the years, Saint Agnes have left no doubt in our minds about their ability to show up and show out every single time they hit the stage; the only thing left lingering on our minds post-show is this, when’s the next time we’ll be hitting the pit at one of their next shows – and how many more new fans will be joining them?
Photo Credit: James Gibbons