Live Review: Immigrant Union, Lowtide, Crepes, Masco Sound System

Just minutes after doors first open, 1000 £ Bend is a hub of activity. Drinks are being consumed at a rate of knots. Projections line the walls as smiles fill the spaces between them. Neither the miserable weather nor last minute venue change has deterred the masses from attending, creating a vibrant though expectant atmosphere.

Openers Masco Sound System cram themselves onto the stage to kick off proceedings, accompanied by a live painter. The warm tones and colours evoked by both parties heats the room, injecting a hit of merriment and vitality into the room. Treading the waters of funk and country, their ‘70s-tinged psych rock — embellished with sultry harmonica tones — has everyone up dancing and paying full attention.

Though a gentler, undermanned Crepes initially struggle to hold the room in the manner of their predecessors, their performance is far from a lesser quality. Debonair, dynamic and oh-so-dreamy, the emerging group exhibit just how they’ve built such a large fanbase so quickly. By the time they depart, having continued the colossal standard of quality already established, all onlookers are deeply enveloped.

A dense cloud of smoke shrouds shoegazers Lowtide as they begin, complementing the enigmatic aura their exultant harmonies craft. They bombard us with a cacophonous wall of reverb and deafening screeching, triggering room-wide speculation as to just how four instruments can produce a sound so large. There’s more than a bit of Slowdive to their set, simultaneously calming and belting an increasingly beguiled crowd.

Luckily, the ensuing tinnitus subsides just in time for Immigrant Union. Though launching only their second album tonight, the group’s name has already housed a number of different members across its many years of existence. Frontmen Brent DeBoer and Bob Harrow, ever-present from the beginning, preside over an adoring audience with contrasting looks of fervour and composure. While the pair embody distinctly different styles, it does very little to upset the flow of a rousing performance. 

Reserved between songs, the quintet’s jangly collection of footstompers and headboppers get everyone moving, providing a glisten and gleam similar to the accompanying light show. Shameless, In Time and Alison are toasted with huge cheers, while War Is Peace almost tears the speakers in two. The band are received like musical royalty, and considering their show this evening, justifiably so. A heartfelt thankyou precedes a triumphant rendition of I Can’t Return, bringing a wonderful night of psychedelic magic to a highly satisfying conclusion.