The Blinders at The Garage, London

The Blinders @The Garage, London, with Calva Louise, Moses 7/11/18

The Blinders - pic Sam Crowston

“There is no hope, there is no hope, there is no hope…“

It was a night to leave you ear wormed for weeks and perversely, also leave you very hopeful indeed.

Doncaster’s The Blinders had put tickets on sale for this heavyweight London show months ahead of their Autumn album release. They’d then been flying - travelling up and down the country on tour, and upwards into the land of radio sessions and full marks reviews.

The debut album ‘Columbia’ was the bedrock of the night’s set, packed with political garage punk anthems, attitude and analysis. The dark days are far from over but people can come together and protest against them by way of total immersion in these lyrically-sharp poetic and prophetic songs. And so they did, with a giant mosh pit in frenzied action from the very first chord.

The Blinders- pic Sam Crowston

Around the edges of the venue, older music biz stars nodded their heads and smiled in admiration while The Blinders demolished the room. L’état c’est moi - “I am the state a subject’s all you are” - really resonated among a furious and trapped generation.

Singer and guitarist Tom commands all eyes and ears with his rasping preacher man delivery, while bass player Charlie prowls around wielding his instrument like a sword, and Matt’s drums of fire threaten the very roof.

The encore was gentler, Tom emerging with his guitar for the haunting Orbit (Salmon Of Alaska). A perfect and heartfelt end to a heart-stirring night.

Hotly-tipped support acts Calva Louise and Moses are both forces to be reckoned with, and pumped out joyful pop rock served two ways.

Calva Louise dished up fantastic fuzzy grunge and were so obviously having a good time they swiftly sucked the audience into their world of wonder.

The fiercely energetic Moses opened the night and soon had the crowd singing along to their latest hook-beast River Thames, ahead of its release.

Plenty of hope for new music all round.

  • The Blinders are on tour again in April 2019, playing The Scala in London and other dates nationwide and across the EU. For more on the band read our interview and gear chat here, and there are more Sam Crowston / Nasty Man Creations live photos, from their Lexington show, here