By Local night at The Horn, St. Albans has always been a popular night with the locals – and ourselves – getting to know the talent within the area and watching their mates play music. Tonight (Saturday 22nd April) saw Glass Peaks, Ripley, Slang and Atlas perform for one incredible local night.
The penultimate date on their UK tour, Glass Peaks took to the stage full of confidence, after spending five days focusing all their effort on learning their four-piece set for a trio the boys certainly weren’t under prepared. Packed full of energy, enthusiasm and excitement, Glass Peaks’ released singles ‘Your Eyes’ and ‘Speak and Spell’ are stunning live. Alfie and Jake working in perfect harmony, their alt-pop vibes come alive with huge passion and electrifying guitar riffs complete their sound.
Grant on the hard-hitting drums got to have his own mini set in a sense, with long drum solos on a couple of tracks to beef out their well-rehearsed set. You could still tell they were a tad nervous that things would go wrong with Jake and Alfie sharing lyrics now they would look at each other to make sure they were in time with the beat.
Overall it felt like Glass Peaks were always a trio, and for anyone who listened to their music for the first time tonight (22nd April) would’ve never known they were a four-piece if Alfie decided not to let everyone know before playing the new track ‘Home’.
Rock trio Ripley from Tring braced the stage next with their mix of covers and own songs. Their rock/punk music and dressed in typical indie style, Ripley’s covers of ‘Move Your Feet’ by Junior Senior and Blur’s ‘Park Life’ were incredible. The guitarist suits ‘Park Life’ perfectly, you literally couldn’t get any more Damon Albarn if you tried.
Their own music, Ripley’s fast-paced rock and roll was a big hit with the crowd, they had a huge Slaves and Circa Waves feel to their sound. ‘Masquerade’ get the young lads going mental, loud drums, loud guitars and loud voices got everyone pumped for Slang and Atlas.
The kings of snapbacks, Slang took to the stage, and I know what you’re thinking, they’ll be playing some kind of rap and rock/pop and you would be right. Slang and his backing band have a Courts, indie charts vibe to them.
Their lyrics are relatable to people, telling them a story which seemed to really connect with the crowd. Their own persona came across stylish and cool that was enjoyable to watch.
Slang haven’t even done ten shows yet, and to have that huge impact on people already is incredible. Certainly, ones to keep under your radar.
The young five-piece, Atlas headlined the show with their unique selling point; they have a saxophone! (Oh yeah!). Their sound has matured and continues to grow as the band gets older, the saxophone adds a to their feel good vibes.
As they progress from a school band to professionals, the band can afford to experiment, which from the crowds’ reaction they are pulling it off.
[…] We also managed to see them headline The Horn with the likes of Glass Peaks, Slang and Ripley only a few months ago, read the review here. […]
[…] Glass Peaks are back in full strength have shown sheer determination since we saw them play at The Horn, St. Albans on their UK tour, they have impressed us, as most bands would probably hang up their guitars. But […]