Music / Reviews
Review: Fletchr Fletchr, the Louisiana – ‘Passion and energy, resonant and emotional”
With their debut EP We All Feel The Same out on Friday, fast-rising indie-rock band Fletchr Fletchr stopped off at the Louisiana this week.
The quartet was originally formed by school friends frontman Rohan Fletcher, lead guitarist Adam Sanders and drummer Oli Williams who all chose to study at the same university where they plotted the plight of their new band before recruiting bassist, George Green, to complete the line-up.
As for the band name, it’s a tribute to Fletcher’s father who passed away, as the band’s biggest fan and source of encouragement, as well as a reflection of Sanders moving into the Fletcher family home, the pair becoming inseparable.
Exploring themes of grief, anxiety and love, Fletchr Fletchr’s discography makes for resonant, emotional listening which clearly connects them to their growing audiences, something which is wholly evident at their headline show at the Louisiana.
Opening the night is Bristol-based Welsh alternative rock outfit the Pavilion, who bring their distinctive infectious indie sound to an already buzzing crowd, a few audience members adorning t-shirts with the band on them.
Single Tomorrow’s Dead kicks off their half an hour slot, a track which has stood the test of time and been a staple in their live set over the past couple of years.
Delivered with plenty of angst, frontman Rhys Smedley’s vocals are powerful, passionate and raw, despite him telling the crowd later in the set that he’s currently battling a cold, a paper cup of lemsip by the guitar pedals.
It’s a cathartic warm-up set with high-energy from the get-go. Much like the main band tonight, the Pavilion’s music largely reflects on coming-of-age, growing up and moving on, something which seemed to really resonate with the audience, winning any initial skeptics over.
Against The Tide and currently unreleased single Human both encapsulate the band’s signature angsty and fierce release at the song’s climax, performed with vitality; drummer Josh Vallis puts sunglasses on half way energetically playing, to the pleasure of the crowd, while in juxtaposition guitarist Iwan Morris plays with a sense of nonchalance.
Closing on the atmospheric Normal Folks, delivered with plenty of angst, the Pavilion prove themselves a local band to be keeping an eye on.
Much of the same follows, Fletchr Fletchr taking to the stage at 9pm and opening with Alive, a passionate, stomping indie number brooding with the kind of anthemic hooks you’d expect to hear in a much bigger venue.
Similarly, Jet Black is the opportunity for head banging with catchy lyrics begging for the crowd to chant back, which they do without hesitation.
Recent single Limitations is more tender, its intimate opening making way for raucous guitars and the introspective lyricism longingly portraying a search for feeling amidst the mundane, exploring the challenges and difficulties of letting go in relationships and accepting when something has to end.
“One day we’ll be playing to a crowd in Bristol,” frontman Rohan Fletcher exclaims, arms towards the crowd, a statement received with cheers as he reflects on the time when the band were working in a kitchen and daydreaming about their music’s success.
The interaction with the crowd is strong throughout, Fletcher notably listing off everything that has gone wrong during this UK headline tour; “[…] our trailer caught on fire, we arrived at our next venue and the fire alarm went off, we arrived at our hostel, and it wasn’t built yet – it was still under construction!
“We played a show in Newquay on Friday and I throw my hand up, punch a disco ball, slice my hand all the way down!” the crowd scream in bemusement, before he finishes, “Basically, what I’m saying is, shit happens.” using this as a way to introduce the eponymous track, We All Feel The Same, which also encapsulates their signature big, stadium-rock sonics, with a Sam Fender-esque emotionally-charged chant, which the audience welcome with euphoria.
Sanders even takes to playing the saxophone at points throughout the hour-long set, adding to the emotion and atmosphere of the music.
Demonstrating the level of passion and energy poured into the live set, Fletcher raises his hand to the crowd, explaining he’s cut it again in the midst of giving the past number his all.
Closing out the show is Whenever, Whenever. As the crowd sing the words back louder, a fan in the centre of the crowd outstretching their arms to the band with careless abandon and full devotion, Fletcher beams as the final notes play out, as though the band had already conquered a stadium.
It’s clear this is a band destined for much bigger things.
All images: Katie Hillier
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