Band drizzles affection over fans and songs alike
The air in the room feels innocent and untouched. Opening up for ISO on their Progressive tour are newbies The Art of Play and Birthday Girl. Each stand alone in their tactics, method of playing and genre choice. The Assembly has bordered their crowd off to the front of the stage. Some form scattered groups around the bar, while others find seats at the back of the room for the night to reveal itself.
The Art of Play start the line-up. I notice they have quite a solid and technically progressive sound, but it’s something I have heard, in many recycled versions, too many times before. They seem like a first-time band, coming together as peers to create a sound they want audiences to familairise themselves with. I cannot pretend I like what they are doing. They are most likely studying music together and decided to use their craft in forming a collective. They have developed jazz chords, a strong set of pipes and well in tune drumming, but even in their strength to formulate a composition, their tracks are boring and their performance, understated.
Following on is Birthday Girl, a trio well versed in dichotomy and contrast. Having channeled their EP in every mood I own, they have played sets in my car, on the beach, whilst working and when I am cooking in the kitchen. But never have I experienced them live. As their live session unravels in front of me, with an exaggerated drumming, elongated drowsy chords and a multitude of a variety of electronic beats, I am elated all the way down to my toes, which can’t help but sway, tap and slide into their eclectic heartfelt movements of sound. As they hollow out their whirlwind of abstract conditions of the human psyche, I watch an assortment of people embrace their tones with use of moonwalking, circus tricks and headbanging. Catering to no one specifically, the crowd swells as each track dishes out the new course.
As the audience bloats, ISO, formerly known as Isochronous, move into their familiar positions, aside supporting their instruments. Many of us there haven’t heard their earlier and more progressive material in years. I am overcome by happiness when vocalist Richard Brokensha commands his presence to his first song. My cheeks turn a faint pink and I remember falling head over heels for the band when they first entered the scene. Young, eager to please and willing to give their bodies over to the stage, all four members of ISO drizzle their affection over the songs they play and the audience who eats them up. There is a woman ahead of me, tumbling to the edge of her neighbours on the dance floor. Her hedonism is alive and catching every breath to bellow every lyric she mimics in their tracks. Another man behind me is rocking out as if this experience was the first he had had. And amongst the fandom around me, there are one or two of us looking ahead in awe, with doe eyes and hands in pockets, reminiscing the way we were at gigs in their and our prime. And even though their entire sound has changed in their newer brand, I get to relive their former version for one night. I had detached myself from their their new material, disliking it in corners, in dialogue, out of context and with anyone who would listen. I feel loss when I hear/ see the ISO brand carrying on when I so gave my heart to their once former selves. Tonight was different though. Tonight they played their golden hits, & there I was bellowing the lyrics as they came to me.
