By Jase Walker
For the first time in quite a while, I’m at a new venue! EKKO in Utrecht has always been on my radar but weirdly never seemed to line up with any acts I was keen on… until now. Shoegaze outfit Slow Crush are heading up today’s event at EKKO named Doomstad along with three other acts, Keep, Oversize and L’orne. So tonight’s show is surely to be full of doom adjacent and fuzzy music with its own take on heaviness.
I’ve managed to get in just in time for L’orne to kick things off. Ideally I would have been here for doors but it seems Dutch trains are still messed up to hell. I had to check through some social media profiles too to figure out that L’orne were the opening act because there’s no bloody stage times anywhere!
Anyway, swiftly moving onto the band themselves, and this lot sound very bloody interesting. There’s so many layers to what they’re doing here ranging from depressing moody vocals and slow paced ambience to high pitched melodic wailing while the rest of the band goes into a crazy noise drenched peak. Almost every song they’ve done so far in this set seems so massively removed from each other, this has been a ride through doom, post-punk, post-rock, indie, genuinely fascinating.
This band has really taken me by surprise due to the massively varied nature of their music and how damn good they sound live, the other acts on tonight have got a pretty high bar to clear after L’orne put on a performance like this!
Next up is Oversize, really ramping up the fuzzy sound with bass so loud it’s shaking my legs! The venue is now looking pretty damn full as well as whoever is doing production has just ramped up the smoke machine use to 100 per cent. These have a sound that errs much more towards the Deftones shoegazey style with big open chords and bouncy bass melodies. There’s elements of Smashing Pumpkins and Vex Red, a sound that feels very late ’90s alt in addition to the shoegaze elements.
They sound absolutely fantastic too, I feel like I could have been transported back in time to some dingy club in Manchester. Oversize are definitely on the same wavelength as other bands making a revival of the ’90s/’00s crossover sound, similar to Bleed and Tetrarch, feeling familiar and yet fresh. With every song they play I get more and more interested and they mentioned a debut album drop back in February that I think I’ll probably be giving a spin on the train ride home tonight. So far I’m on two new bands to myself that have really surprised me and will be names I’ll be keeping an eye out for in future, great evening!
Next up is main support for this tour, Keep, who admittedly with a name like that are way harder to find information on than I would have expected. Considering the slower nature of the bands before them, a sudden uptick in tempo caught me a bit off guard. Still keeping pretty consistent with the fuzzy shoegaze of the other bands on the lineup though, so not gonna complain because that is exactly what I came here for tonight.
It does stand out to me that it’s the drummer that’s singing for these but because of the stage format he’s had to be tucked away at the back so it does look a little bit weird. The amount of vocals seems to be somewhat less and the band focuses more on extended instrumental sections with beautiful atmospheric moments. These guys, just as the rest of the supports tonight, have been a real treat getting familiar with and a joy to watch. The fact that there’s newer bands like this, still making new and fresh spins on shoegaze and fuzzy stuff, shows that this scene is alive and well and stuffed with real gems.
Keep have clearly got the audience completely captivated too, looking around there’s not a single face that isn’t completely focused on the band, nodding away with a subtle smile on their face. With Slow Crush coming up next, so far this evening over in Utrecht has been a real special one for a Sunday night. An immense buildup to Slow Crush and they had better be on top of their game too because everyone else so far tonight has smashed it out the park.
Prior to the show, four intense beams of light aim upwards from the stage, I spot the signature torch flash signalling to start and a low rumble fills the room and conversation dies down. It’s time for the main act for tonight, Slow Crush!
I’ve been looking forward to seeing a headline show from these for years now and it’s finally happening! It’s not just that though, it’s being able to catch a band like these in what still is an intimate setting because I genuinely don’t think it’s going to be long before they’re up on much bigger stages.
They’re great visually as well, taking whatever moment they have spare from doing vocals to rock out a bit and actually have a bit of fun while playing. What stands out to me the most with this live sound though is the drums, they sound absolutely massive! Every hit of the bass drum and snare has a really airy punch to it that sounds like it’s being played in a stadium. The lighting production, while still somewhat small, is also used to great effect and had clearly had a lot of thought put into it and how it goes with each song. Considering the amount of smoke used as well, the volume of the four main lights against backing lights moving between soft hues of purple to stronger reds is a beautiful show to look at.
The more I listen to Slow Crush, especially live, the more I see them as changing the game in this particular niche of music. Shoegaze and adjacent music can often be seen as a bit tough to get into because of how muddy it can sound at times but not with Slow Crush. There’s an injection of wonderful pop sensibilities that carve out a much more accessible sound, mixing in some other elements from post-rock and you have the beautifully haunting melodies and songs of Slow Crush.
They’re a fantastic example of how you can toe the line of being easy to get into but still being that little bit weird to stay in keeping with the more traditional side of shoegazey music. Slow Crush are another band that I’ve seen doing support slots and festival slots over the years and now finally a headline show that they’ve truly made their own. Being able to witness a band grow like this and properly strike out on their own and really make a proper success of it is amazing to witness. They’re building a stronger following with every passing year along with producing real quality music that sounds even better live than the recordings!
Coming over to Utrecht despite the train issues and my own tired arse was absolutely the right call for this. Fucking immense show and Slow Crush should be proud of where they are and where they’re going and long may it continue.
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