Eyre Llew. Photo: Shaun Gordon
Things started closer to home however, with Nottingham’s own Eyre Llew making their long-awaited live debut. The band’s delicate post-rock has been captivating listeners for some time now, so as they faded into opening track I See The Sun swathed in smoke and glacial blue lights, a sense of anticipation hung heavy in the air. Needless to say, it was about as impressive an unveiling as you’re ever likely to see – the trio’s 5 song set shifted and evolved with the effortless grace of Sigur Ros, doused in heavenly guitar drones, crystalline piano chords and falsetto vocals echoing into oblivion. Debuting rafts of unheard music including the anthemic closing track Atelo, Eyre Llew made a strong case to be one of Nottingham’s most ambitious and captivating new bands, adapting their carefully composed, elegant ambient works to the stage with remarkable ease. The band will no doubt go from strength to strength, but if their set was anything to go by, they’re pretty much the finished article already.
Flyying Colours. Photo: Shaun Gordon
After Eyre Llew’s idyllic introduction, Flyying Colours took the volume up a notch and got the crowd moving - the Aussie outfit appeared armed with crushing guitar tones and lively percussion, tearing into tracks from their recent ROYGBIV EP with flamboyant energy. The band’s blissed-out shoegaze jams took an even heavier form on stage than on record; their riffs sounding even more wild and unhinged. Standout track Not Today had the crowd in particular awe, and although comparisons to the likes of My Bloody Valentine go without saying, Flyying Colours’ blend of anarchic noise and colourful psychedelia allowed them to occupy a truly unique space, and set a suitably chaotic mood for Pinkshinyultrablast to come.
Pinkshinyultrablast. Photo: Shaun Gordon
If it wasn’t clear already from their name or their wondrous January release Everything Else Matters, Pinkshinyultrablast don’t believe in compromise. Typically then, the Russian 5-piece hurtled through their first 3 songs uninterrupted before anyone could blink, retaining an unwavering energy throughout a blistering set. Equal parts shoegaze, post-rock and math-rock, the music had the crowd happily hypnotised from the beginning, with angelic lead vocals piercing through thick layers of guitar and synth, undercut by taut, expressive bass lines. The band took the radiant sound of their studio work to a stadium-sized level, commanding an inventive live set-up that included more effects pedals than I could count. Their set went by as quickly as it arrived, leaving the crowd suitably spaced-out and desperate for more.
Rarely do you get to see 3 uniquely brilliant bands at the top of their game in one night, but when The Maze went global, that’s just what we got. Be sure to catch Eyre Llew on their recent run of Nottingham shows, as well as both Flyying Colours and Pinkshinyultrablast on their UK and Europe tours – you’d be mad not to.
Pinkshinyultrablast, Flyying Colours and Eyre Llew played at The Maze on Friday 8 May 2015.
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