By Jase Walker
It’s not often I get to see a band that’s picking up speed in quite the way Artio is at such an intimate venue like the Peer Hat but I was not going to pass this chance up. Artio caught my attention thanks to another random Spotify choice following one of my listening binges to Vukovi: an absolutely stellar stroke of luck and I’ve been a massive fan of them since!
For this particular show it doesn’t include NoYou which is a bit of a shame but we’ve got a bit of a different collection of bands in the form of All Girls Arson Club and Taurine and I’m all about unique experiences so let’s get stuck in!
I’ve got in just as All Girls Arson Club get their set started and compared to Artio they’re quite a bit different but I’ve taken a shine to their light-hearted take on a bit of cut down punky rock and roll, it’s just guitars and drums and a great sense of humour. I love these sorts of shows because of how happy-go-lucky a lot of them feel and I’ve been stood watching and tapping some notes out with a big grin on my face; what’s not to like about songs to do with your favourite supermarket? I do miss this sort of vibe with a lot of the bigger shows I go to where it feels more like you’re part of the show rather than just experiencing it.
Between the pretty damn funny in-between songs chat on stage which gives a nice bit of insight into the band and what their music is about and generally just enjoying the music for what it is, they’re a real fun act to watch and I find myself humming bass lines away to myself as they play. This is exactly what I wanted out of a show at this venue so far and I can’t wait to see what’s next for tonight.
Second hand tonight is Taurine, a bit more of a fuller band experience now with the four piece taking the stage. Their singer has a hell of a voice as well, I’m transfixed on it right from the start, able to go from quiet and sweet to roaring during louder sections, great stuff. Following up a somewhat quiet introduction with much more punky stuff, the rest of the crowd begins piling in closer to the stage and getting stuck into the set. Great movement on stage too, really active and look like they’re having great fun smashing out what they’re doing, love it! Just looking around behind me, The Peer Hats venue area downstairs is looking absolutely packed by this point as well, what an incredible turnout.
Taurine are raw, abrasive, each song tinged with anti-fascist and anti-bigotry energy and I wonder how I’ve not come across them sooner. Their message carries a lot of weight with the crowd that’s here tonight as this is a queer femme-focused night so many here are very much part of this culture. I got a whipped cream cake thrown at me as well, not directly as it was aimed for one of their guitarists and the other half of it landed all over me, incredible. I did get to cake the drummer back though as well so we’re even! Think they got a bit of a telling off over that though but I thought it was pretty funny though!
Finally, it’s time for me to get my first experience of Artio‘s live performance! To say I’m excited about this is a bit of an understatement! What a crazy strong live sound right from the start, excellent balance of sound and their singer sounds bloody fantastic as well! Their catchy electro-infused noisy rock is capturing my attention every bit as much as it did the first time I heard them and I’m finally getting my ears around their live show, and I couldn’t be happier! This is probably one of the best sounding shows I think I’ve ever seen in The Peer Hat, especially considering how relatively close you are to the drum kit here as it’s only a small stage.
As a result of this show as well, I get to hear a ton of their stuff I’ve not heard before and ‘Hell’s Door’ really stands out to me as a massive banger, it’s use of synth strings to accompany the riffy playing and big vocal segments is totally my cuppa. The amount of movement they’re doing on each song is a real joy to watch, they’ve got stage performance down to a fine art, each song they’re throwing themselves around in what little room is available on the cozy stage. There’s not a single stationery person in this room, people further back dancing away on chairs and tables if they can get on one.
Speaking of the movement, it’s occurred to me that often during certain breaks where the guitarist’s aren’t playing something, they’re also actively acting out the song along with their singer which is a nice little touch. An unreleased song, ‘Product Of My Own Design’, delivers heavy criticism of the church through blunt lyrics, fierce riffs and Artio’s knack for mixing in some heavy techno influences, superb song. Drawn the set to a close, one of the final songs is one of the songs that really sold Artio for me, ‘Hush Money’, with its bizarre furby torture music video (I mean the songs great too but yeah). And finally ‘Billionaire’s Nightmare’, finishing up a fantastic introduction to Artio’s live show and cements them as a band I’ll be following around for the foreseeable future, don’t sleep on these, they’re gonna be massive before you blink.
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