Gig review: The Big Moon at Rough Trade

The Big Moon, for whatever reason, have been a group that has eluded my view for a long time. The Mercury Prize nominated foursome have been forging themselves a large following for over a decade, and I had previously been sadly uneducated on their catalog. So, when I saw they were to play a show at Rough Trade Nottingham on a cold November evening, I decided to change my ignorance and see them.

My favourite thing about concerts in the later months of the year is the atmosphere in the queue. Even if one is solitary, the crisp cold of the autumn air seems to accompany a person. and adds to that warm feeling that rushes over you when you step into a venue. I had spent the day of the show getting more and more familiar with The Big Moon's catalogue, especially their newest record Forever, which was released the Friday before the gig.

Despite us being let into the venue 15 minutes late, the band was perfectly on time, arriving to the stage just after seven o’clock. Noticeably, their bassist Celia Archer was absent from the show - and we were soon told why. To the joy of everyone in the room, it was announced that she had had a child, and the crowd burst into a collective cheer for Archer. Despite the setback of missing a member, the now trio played their socks off through their eight song set.

If you ever get the chance to see The Big Moon live in concert, the first thing you will ever notice about their show is the fact that the girls can harmonise beautifully. Julliette Jackson, Soph Nathan and Fern Ford all had impeccable voices throughout every single song they performed; they were like a travel-sized choir. During their first song, the title track from their new album Forever included animalistic adlibs throughout by guitarist Nathan and drummer Ford, which surprisingly complimented Jackson’s words and guitar playing really well. 

This fun energy and atmosphere continued throughout the entire show, and it was a breath of fresh air to say the least. In so many bands, there is this unspoken piety, where they simply cannot show joy or amusement in a live setting. But The Big Moon were the complete opposite. It was so clear that the band wholly enjoyed their time playing, and were having just as much of a good time as the crowd.

One example of this was when, during their track Trouble, guitarist Nathan made a mistake on the guitar. Some bands would have simply continued, stone faced, but The Big Moon took that moment in their stride and laughed between themselves. This showed a real sense of unity in the band, which also came across in the way that their playing was so interconnected. Every member’s parts seemed to blend together into one singular stream of musical euphoria- whether it was Nathan’s airy, spacy guitars, Jackson’s haunting vocals, or Ford’s surgical precision on the shakers and electric organ. 

Despite all the fun and laughter had by everyone in that room, there was still space for some emotional intensity. The track Sounds particularly hit me in the heart due to its backstory. For those who do not know, lead singer Jackson suffered permanent hearing loss in 2024 due to a cyst and this was the point at which their latest album began to form. Knowing that story, her words hit that much harder, it was heartbreaking: "Sounds like I remember, soon to be a memory”.

The final two songs of the evening, Three Things and Your Light really lifted the closing of the show into an uplifting euphoria. These two really demonstrated how amazing The Big Moon are at writing catchy melodies - they are stuck in my head, even now. Every member played their instruments to their highest extent, especially Nathan. The solos she played during these tracks were tight in sound but tasteful in the context of the rest of the instruments. So often do guitarists feel the need to overplay or overwhelm the rest of the band; Nathan was understated, but still memorable. 

Despite the relative shortness of this in-store performance, they did more in the 30 or so minutes they had than some others can do with hours upon hours of time. The phrase "all killer, no filler" gets thrown around a lot, but this set was the dictionary example of that notion. Not a second of this show was wasted, every song was performed perfectly, and I couldn’t ask for more if I tried. Seeing this show, I am even more disappointed in myself that I hadn’t become a convert to the cult of The Big Moon - but that changes now. 

The Big Moon performed at Rough Trade Nottingham on 2nd November 2026