Music / Reviews
Review: Hinds, The Fleece – ‘Infectious positivity’
“Spoiler alert: you are in for quite a show!” a photographer told me, amping up my buzz of positivity on arrival.
The show was sold out – “since 1984,” if Hinds are to be believed – with plenty arriving early to catch Swedish Support act Clutter who hit the stage with grunge-infected swagger, their music no-nonsense, gritty, fuzzed up with a post punk undercurrent.
Hilda, Ander and Emma French display their talents by effortlessly swapping guitars, bass and vocals for pretty much every song and look suitably adept at all.
is needed now More than ever
Clutter: effortlessly swapping instruments
The Fleece is swarming with buzzy Hinds fans, with a notable Spanish contingent here to support their home country band.
Carlotta Cosials struts on stage and fills it with her smile as the crowd roars in excitement at their first show in Bristol since 2018.
After a tumultuous few years, with lineup changes, breakups, and everything in between, there were times when fans didn’t know whether HInds would be back. Thankfully they are, and everyone is extremely happy about it, including them.
Hinds: joyful, infectious energy
And it’s very clear, early on in this show, that they are here to party. The energy they emit is one of infectious positivity and a rich, close bond which sees them finishing each other’s sentences.
They are a bundle of energy with pop sensibilities and have a clear connection with their fans who feed off their joyous stage demeanour.
The band has overcome challenges in the last few years and they’re clearly happy to be back onstage where they belong
Superstar is Poignant Perfect Pop. It starts as a super soft piano-led ballad and builds to a punk rock frenzy, the epitome of their current sound. This is music they need to make, it’s vital to their existence.
Boom Boom Back has a groove and rhythm making the place a dance floor, and a cover of The Clash’s Spanish Bombs is unexpectedly thrown into the mix before they jump into the crowd to perform punk rock pirouettes, resulting in a mass mosh pit.
The party shows little let-up and the crowd’s appreciation clearly touches the band, validatation of all their struggle and hard work. As an encore, the band just gets onstage and bounces around like it’s a Saturday night in the club.
Our reviewer recommends catching Hinds at a festival over summer
All images: David Broome
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