Live Review
At their London comeback show, Drenge have a bigger knockout punch than ever before
Words:Jamie Muir
Photos:Sarah Louise
Muna
Picture a grand reopening. First thing that comes to mind? One of them shops down the road that’s been a bit dormant for the past few years. You know the one. It probably sells lighting, or maybe sofas. If bands were highstreet destinations (and don’t worry, we could dive into plenty more on that front), then Drenge are one where anything goes. On Dork Avenue, their reopening has been something of an anticipated affair - and it’s only right that the brothers treat tonight like the celebratory occasion it deserves. It’s mad to think that it’s only been three years since they released second album ‘Undertow’, but there’s a reason why their absence has been felt so strong. In the time since, many a band has come through with spitting punk energy. The likes of Shame, Crows and more have all left their own stamp on rollicking kick-the-front-door in garage punk fun, but none have quite managed to slot into that role Drenge carved out for themselves. Across those two LPs, they promised a tidal wave of energy, an unrelenting ability to pick apart the menacing aspects of modern life and create this dimly-lit vision of a Friday night in cities across the nation. Where do they go from here? What does Drenge mean in 2018? The answer? A fuckload of absolute scenes and a band evolving further into an unstoppable force. Sounds like a grand reopening to us. Before then, Kagoule set the stage in a manner only they could truly deliver. With a wealth of expectation around the evening, it’s a hard set to take on - but they do so by switching the focus to an alternative-slant that proves they're stepping up a gear. Glitching with Placebo-esque ease for off-kilter grooves, it’s a presence that creates its own rhythm. It promises big things, with each moment tonight unlike the one before. There’s something independent about what Kagoule are doing, and you can guarantee many many more are going to fall into their world - if they can make a mark tonight then they’re bound to make quite the racket in the months ahead. A red tape adorns the stage as Drenge step out in boiler suits, the theme tune to Have I Got News To You blaring and frontman Eoin prepared with a written statement to welcome in a new chapter for the Loveless brothers. Where they last packed a trio punch, there’s now four - and that effect is clear from the very first note, opening with new number ‘Bonfire’, a prowling beast that calls out to each and every person gathered in the Assembly Hall’s classy decored floors. Like throwing a match into Guy Fawkes’ box of dynamite, it begins an evening frothing at the mouth with an energy and bursting momentum. A barrage of debut album lighters, ‘Dogmeat’, ‘Backwaters’ and ‘Nothing’ hit one after the other, only to be met with another heavyweight sledgehammer of an anthem that has the packed room screaming along. It’s snarling, unfiltered and led by Eoin overseeing the masses with his piercing calls ringing through - none more so than the glorious eruption of ‘We Can Do What We Want’. More than just a sizzling run of pogoing bodies, singalongs ring throughout. Drenge thrive more than ever in encompassing a runaway train yet underneath have the melodies designed for bigger stages - and it’s with that in mind that tonight suggests and points to where they go next. It's another shining example of how Drenge refuse to sit comfortably at the stage they’ve built themselves, instead growing into something more - flexing their muscles for the world to see. They have a bigger knockout punch than ever before, and the mix of new and old songs don’t just point to a lovely ‘ol return, but focus on ambition. Debut album numbers like ‘People In Love Make Me Feel Like Yuck’, and ‘Bloodsports’ are treated like national anthems, while ‘This Dance’ - unveiled less than 24 hours ago - already feels like a classic in waiting. Yet even after the unrelenting power of searing number after searing number, one of the night’s most powerful moments comes when the band leave the stage, Eoin appearing one last time with an acoustic guitar in hand to serenade the room to ‘Fuckabout’. “We’ve spent the last three years on a beach in Alicante,” confesses Eoin, but that wait has been undeniably worthwhile. A spit in the face, a defiant kick in the teeth and a wake-up call - it’s something many will not have known they needed, but tonight Drenge lay out the perfect reminder to their powers. Not here to simply plug along to how great things were a while ago, they’re aiming for domination. Tonight is the grand reopening for an unmissable road ahead. <em>Photos: Sarah Louise Bennett / Dork</em>
