JAWS, Newhampton Arts Centre, Wolverhampton - review
It was a full house at the NAC for a celebration of the Wolftown music scene with special guests from down the road in Brum.
First up, Synthetic Recipe kept their mates happy with covers of songs by Fall Out Boy, Nirvana, Neck Deep and Green Day, but their closing song, an original entitled Method In The Madness, suggests they have a future beyond covers.
You can catch them on Friday night (February 23) at the Slade Rooms with Blick Black and the Chilliholers, Mayo and Override.
Tinned Astronaut went down a treat with a small but enthusiastic mosh pit thanks to their sudden gear changes and hard rock crescendoes. New song Silver Tongue was an instant hit with the crowd but the biggest response was for older favourite Upsetty Spaghetti.
Singer and rhythm guitarist George Smith is a confident frontman with what is probably Wolverhampton's best unsigned band.
Headliners JAWS come from Birmingham and have a national profile but this was a rare gig for them in Wolverhampton and singer/guitarist Connor Schofield was sporting a vintage Wolves top to mark the occasion.
This outfit formed by friends at Halesowen College six years ago after two albums now certainly stand shoulder to shoulder with more widely known bands like The 1975, Bombay Bicyle Club and Foals.
With their name literally up in lights behind them, JAWS oozed class with a funky rock sound festooned with chiming guitars.
They opened with the dream pop of Surround You followed by recent single Cast from latest album Simplicity.
Other highlights included Think Too Much Feel Too Little, Stay In and 17 before they upped the pace for a high-energy indie rock finish with Just A Boy, Be Slowly and crowd favourite Gold, the song matching his Wolves shirt.
