Vinyl Staircase and guests tear up The Boileroom for ‘In The Tune’
I have a deep rooted love for Guildford. Sure, it’s filled with Tories and 15-year-olds doing ket for the first time in their parent’s townhouse, but it’s got something nowhere else in the country does; The Boileroom.
The Boileroom is a grassroots 300 capacity venue which has held the likes of Wolf Alice, Indoor Pets, The Hoosiers, Spring King, The Magic Gang, the list goes on. It’s presence, along with the local music college ACM, has given Guildford one of, if not THE, best music scenes in the country. Local legends Vinyl Staircase aren’t unfamiliar with The Boileroom, having played various headline shows and support slots at the iconic venue. I’ve been lucky enough to see them here before and yet here I am again, drawn back to my favourite place with one of my favourite bands.
In The Tune, a relatively new promoter, in the form of ICM’s own Mollie Yates put this special night on. A huge lineup of four acts helped this night be one to absolutely remember. Local band Edge of Desire opened the night. Lead singer, guitarist, and pianist, Dan has the voice of an angel and talent to match. Their almost Radiohead style sound helped bring a liveliness to the venue to open up with and their indie rock vibes took everyone’s hearts with people talking about them for the rest of the night.
Second on the bill were King Kuda. Their beautiful indie dream-pop carved its way through the venue bringing fans and people who don’t them know them together dancing throughout the entire set. A band made for bigger and better things and helped give a beautiful ebb and flow to the night.
Like a punch to the gut came The Palmers. I’m not sure what I expected from the band on name alone, but the hard-hitting punky style was not it. There was an absolutely stomping raw energy coming from The Palmers. They encapsulated the crowd and incited a mosh which is an incredible talent for a support act, especially when they’re not locals.
Finally, come Vinyl Staircase. Every single time I’m blown away by this band and every single time they manage to blow me away more. Their set ranged from unreleased tracks through to their recent EP with a packed crowd moshing to every song they could. People will mosh to anything if the band are good enough and that shows with Vinyl Staircase. Their stage presence is one that’s unmatched at their level and the precision of a band who’ve been together twice as long. Whilst chatting to them before the set, they informed me they’d only do a certain cover if the crowd called for an encore, so obviously I told everyone to do that. Picking their instruments back up, I expected the jangly guitar of Anemone by The Brian Jonestown Massacre, which I’ve seen the band do before, instead I was totally thrown off. BJM’s friends and rivals The Dandy Warhol’s track ‘Bohemian Like You’ was the encore song which got every single person dancing, including myself clutching onto my cameras for dear life.
In The Tune’s first night at The Boileroom was a resounding success, each band coming away with more love for the venue and crowd than they had before, and the crowd with more love for each act than they probably expected.