Live Review: ISLAND at Oslo, Hackney 27/10/21

 

Man created the flying machine. Messi reinvented football. ISLAND formed a band. All of these things have richly enhanced society. For the lucky – albeit covid-weary – people of today we stand on the cusp of the boom of society enhancer number three. Perhaps the 60s didn’t quite have it all.

Made up of frontman Rollo Doherty, guitarist Jack Raeder, bassist James Wolfe and drummer Toby Richards, alternative rock band ISLAND put on a performance that would make an iceberg blush (don’t tell 1912) at a sold-out Oslo in Hackney, London to finish their recent UK tour.

The venue was intimate and abuzz as the lyrics and instruments reverberated around the room with all the same beautiful power and energy as the inside of Lily Allen’s vibrator cupboard. There was not simply one or two good songs dotted into the set. There was no lull in standard. Each and every tune – even those I hadn’t known beforehand – were immersive and attention commanding. This, therefore, is a band with an exceedingly strong repertoire; not to mention the songs, well-ranked on Spotify, which they sadly omitted from their set like “Do You Remember the Times” and “Octopus”. Forget a drop in the ocean, ISLAND could well overtake the whole bloody ocean if they keep on producing such consistent high-quality content and live performances.

It should also be noted that listening to recordings of their songs is one very enjoyable thing, but their live performance somehow cranked up and catapulted this high standard up to a stratospheric level which would have the space race millionaires checking nervously down at the size of their manhoods… combined. Maybe it was the fact that the live set – especially the singing – felt so impassioned in a way that is perhaps difficult for recordings to grasp.

With his roaring multi-pitch vocals and full-hearted lyrics Rollo commanded the stage as if he’d been born on it. Likewise, the lads on the instruments beat their strings, banged their heads, and bashed their drum skins in an orgy of existential transcendence. This is a band that feeds off the good energy of each other and their audience like honeybees and pollen. Feeling the transmission of euphoria, everywhere in the crowd arms soared, minds swayed, and some people’s vertebrates even seemed a little inexistent. This was a wonderful level of being. The type when you just forget about whatever else might be going on in the world, and that as long as the thing in front of you carries on you’ll be bewitched – like environmentalists are with glue these days.

Trying to keep up with the force of nature which the music was, the lighting effects could perhaps have been used a little more emphatically to complement ISLAND’s songs. For instance, in better coordination with the beats, solos, notes and rhythms of the songs, as well as with the variety of colours and flash sequences the room was treated to. There is possibly an element of Pink Floyd’s often very visual light-filled live performances which ISLAND have the – as yet unfulfilled – potential to explore and immerse themselves and their future audiences in.

All in all this was a sublime showing. The major strong points included the power of Rollo’s voice, the distinctive riffs and notes produced by the strings, and the earnest lyrics which might mean something different – but certainly something emotive and personal – to each individual listener. With high calibre tunes and a natural capacity to perform on stage ISLAND surely have a very bright future ahead of them.

Overall rating: 9/10

 

Be sure to check out:

Favourite album: Yesterday Park

Favourite song: The Day I Die