Why is it when you know you have enough time to make it to a gig on time, that you immediately slow down and find something else to do to fill in the gap, meaning that you then have to drive like you’re auditioning for the next Fast and Furious movie? Well, that’s what seems happen to The Humble Reviewer and Photographer Girl with increasing regularity, and this is why we find ourselves hurtling across the Wales border in the direction of the M56, having stopped to take in a cheeky Maccies on the way.
The aim is to be there in time to see our good mates Gurriers who have managed to support the prestigious support slot for this tour around Inhaler’s third album, the Kid Harpoon-produced “Open Wide” which was released the day before this gig.
Fortunately, we manage to get to The Apollo (none of this “O2” nonsense, thank you very much, my good fellow, it was The Apollo back in 1979 for my first ever gig, and in my head, that’s how it’ll stay) just in time to hear the familiar raucous siren intro to “Nausea”, the opener from Gurriers’ September 2024 debut album “Come and See”. Before the gig, guitarist Mark McCormack had remarked to me, “I don’t think Inhaler’s fans are gonna know what’s hit them!”
It’s fair to say, looking at the profile of tonight’s predominantly female teen audience, that not many of them will have crossed paths with Gurriers before tonight, but they don’t look fazed in the slightest. Mind you, if any of them had caught Gurriers’ well-deserved appearance on the Jools Holland show at the back end of last year, tonight’s on-stage shenanigans wouldn’t have come as a surprise to them at ALL.
As frontman Dan Hoff and the sartorially elegant bassist Charlie McCarthy throw themselves around the stage with an alarming degree of energy, pleasingly, the crowd reflect it right back at them, punching the air, whooping and applauding in all the right places, as fellow Gurriers Ben O’Neill on guitar stage left, Mark McCormack on guitar stage right and Pierce Callaghan on drums deliver a thunderous backdrop to tonight’s short but impressive six song set (now THERE’S an album title if ever I heard one). It’s also nice to see a set that spans the full spectrum of Gurriers catalogue from the punkier “Nausea” and “Dipping Out” to the Just Mustard-esque shoegaze of set closer, “Come and See”.
Both Dan and Charlie make forays down to the barrier, to the delight of the appreciative crowd, and it’s fair to say that if one of the aims of tonight’s (and indeed the tour as a whole) was to introduce themselves to a whole new group of fans, then Gurriers will certainly have succeeded.
We’ve been fortunate enough to have followed Gurriers since the early days, and there’s not a bunch of hardworking and likeable fellas who deserve to hit the big time more than they do. Roll on Liverpool Arts Club Loft on the 4th of April. If you haven’t seen Gurriers yet, you’re really missing a trick.
Gurriers played: Nausea, Des Goblin, Dipping Out, No More Photos, Approachable and Come and See.
And so, to tonight’s headliners. Always struggling to match the slab of pop perfection that was of debut album, “It Won’t Always Be Like This” frontman Elijah (yes, we KNOW who his dad is…) Hewson, Josh Jenkinson stage left on guitar, shocking blonde Rob Keating stage right on bass, Ryan McMahon on drums and ever-faithful keyboard stalwart Louis Lambert took a stab at being a bit more, “Indie” with follow up, “Cuts and Bruises”.
However, on first listen, it appears that they’ve decided to play to their strengths and go back to doing what they do best, namely delivering energetic and polished pop to an adoring and fiercely loyal fanbase.
They open up with, fan favourite “My Honest Face”, much to the delight (and possible surprise) of the crowd, who would reasonably have expected it to appear much later on in the set, but then as they have a job to do, they follow it up with, Open Wide’s opening track, “Eddie in The Darkness”.
As you’d expect, the reaction to the newer material is more reserved, given that we’ve only had twenty- four hours to familiarise ourselves with it. In all we’re treated to seven of its thirteen tracks, interspaced with enough fan favourites to keep the older fans happy too. “Little Things” is dedicated to One Direction, much to the delight of the crowd, many of whom will obviously be fans of both, and given that Kid Harpoon produced Harry Styles’ 2022 album, “Harry’s House” too, there’s clearly a going to be a lot of crossover as far as production and overall sound is concerned.
“These Are the Days” is possibly the only other fan favourite that fails to make the cut tonight, but there’s a job to be done too, and that new album won’t sell itself (although I bet, you’d be hard put to find a member of this audience who DOESN’T own it already). Oldie, “Dublin in Ecstasy” sees Mr Hewson pop down into his adoring fans, a tactic adopted by bassman Rob mid-set too and, “My King Will Be Kind” sees several thousand voices chanting, “I f*cking hate that b*tch” – whoever she is, she’s clearly done something VERY bad indeed.
The body of the set concludes with “Cheer Up Baby” which produces the desired effect from the crowd, before we all stand in wait for the obligatory encore. Inhaler emerge from the gloom to a thunderous roar, delivering Open Wide’s title track, closely followed by “It Won’t Always be Like This”, but then close with “Your House”, which, as it’s missing the gospel chorus that accompanies it on the album, falls strangely flat, at least to these jaded ears.
Maybe this is where, “These Are the Days” or even “Ice Cream Sundae” would have been a better choice with which to round off the evening, as we’re all still waiting for the set-closing crowd-rouser, but with a toss of guitar picks and drumsticks into the crowd, Inhaler are gone. We’re still waiting for the REAL encore as the house lights come on and we’re ushered to the exits. A bit of an odd one really.
However, this isn’t to distract from the obvious strength of a band at the height of their powers and ready to take on the world. Eli is yet to step out from behind his guitar and take on the role of fully-fledged frontman, but when you look at what happened to his dad, that’s maybe not such a bad thing. Inhaler are a tightly-knit unit, delivering material that spans genres, but always with pop firmly at its core.
So, what’s the take from tonight – well, on the strength of tonight’s performances, we’ve seen that Inhaler are not only ready to step up to festival slots, but also that Gurriers are more than comfortable in this size of venue with material that has allowed them to break free from the sometimes restricting “Post-Punk” label, so we have two bands at different points in their respective careers, but both ready to step up to the next level – hopefully they’ll both continue to head in One Direction too (Groan – you’re fired – Ed).
PHOTO CREDIT – INHALER OFFICIAL
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