Sundara Karma @ Wedgewood Rooms

Sundara Karma gigs always promise to be three things: Exciting, energetic and glittery. Thankfully, when they visited Portsmouth’s Wedgewood Rooms they didn’t disappoint. Bringing along the excellent Will Joseph Cook and Palm Honey for the adventure they all performed a night of incredible live music soaked in fun and catchy songs.

Opening to the already packed room were Palm Honey, coming onstage in silence to an already very excitable crowd and ripping into their first track sending everyone into a frenzy. Playing through their EP in full with impressive vocal abilities and talented musicians Palm Honey were a pleasure to watch. At first they appeared slightly tentative but soon warmed up and performed an incredible set of their psychedelic sound that worked a treat. The music had everyone moving along by the end, with some hard riffs and the occasional saxophone solo they were really a pleasure to watch. Despite the occasional technical issue the band smashed their set and walked off looking elated as the anticipation in the venue grew higher.

Will Joseph Cook shortly followed with his unique take on the alternative pop scene, creating a spectacle with the pulsating lights and his absolute dominance of the stage. Despite only being 19, Will Joseph Cook exuded confidence as he bundled around the stage amidst pulsating lights and put on an incredible spectacle. He maintained his energy throughout the entire set, belting out incredible hits like Girls Like Me and getting the whole of the Wedgewood Rooms to sing along. Playing lots of new tracks from his debut album due for release on the 14th of April the album is undoubtedly going to be great success for Will Joseph Cook. Finishing his set with two lively acoustic tracks and bundling off stage ecstatically leaving everyone buzzing for Sundara Karma to come on stage.

As the lights dimmed six inflatable balloons flew out from behind the stage and a surge of people pushed through to get as close to the stage as possible. After the balloons inevitable popped on the lighting structures Sundara collectedly walked on stage to the sound of Gwen Stefani’s Hollaback Girl it became obvious the night was going to be about having an incredible time. Breaking into Young Understanding the whole of The Wedgewood Rooms erupted into a deafening chorus singing along with the band.

While massive personalities are common for a frontman of a band, Oscar Lulu is aunique example. Staying humble and collected he doesn’t lack confidence or talent, sharing anecdotes with the crowd and pulling out dance moves that would embarrass a modern day Alex Turner, Sundara Karma had complete control of the crowd as they played back-to-back hits from their recent debut album Youth Is Only Ever Fun In Retrospect. It seemed the crowd knew every word to every word Sundara performed and this only heightened the performance given by the band. Whilst their homage to Luther Vandross’ Never Too Much appeared to be lost on some of the younger audience, it was a nice touch to celebrate pop music.

The highlight of the night came when Sundara Karma performed Flame, entering into a two way performance with the crowd delighted to sing back every word with Oscar as they lost themselves in the performance.

Sundara Karma have become synonymous with putting on incredibly special gigs, putting in an insane amount of energy and effort that is always reciprocated by the passionate crowds. Their live sound is unique and they capture the elements that made the songs sound so good on the album and EPs, Sundara never fail to disappoint.