Gig Review: Demob Happy at The Bodega

The evening kicked off with Congratulations bringing their strange, eccentric and bombastic energy to the stage. Comprised of the powerful vocals of Leah Stanhope, the battering drums of James Gilligham, the punchy riffs of Jamie Chellar and the filthy bass of Greg Burns, I was probably most impressed by the bands genre-blending and hard-hitting melodies - their songs had such a strange but awesome mix of heavy bass, screeching guitar, and hard-as-hell drums accompanying Leah’s punky vocals that only mesmerised me more when she whipped out some mental heavy metal screams.

Although the crowd weren’t massively responsive bar guessing Stanhope’s subway order, the band did not let that stop them from giving it their all and giving the crowd an impressive show and energy. Sound mixing suffered a little, so Stanhope was a little hard to hear at times, but that’s a given for an opening band, and their stage presence rid me of any problem with that. 

Next up were the headliners, Demob Happy. Opening with the leading single Voodoo Science off their new album Divine Machines, it was clear to me that no matter the amount of people or the amount of engagement they got from the venue, this band did not come to mess around. They were rocking some serious hardware for the show, for any music tech nerds out there, and I was captivated by their onstage mixing techniques such as a vocal delay and slap reverb with help from a Blackstar pedal, and their use of layering effects to create a such striking, unique sound for a live setting.

Their singer Matthew Marcantonio used these to outlandish effect, with each song sounding amazingly close to its studio version and for a band with such heavy production behind their sound, this surprised me; they definitely are, as Marcantonio put it, ‘a DIY band’. Drummer Thomas Armstrong was also a shining example of how awesome it is beating up your instrument - there was no holding back in his playing and I absolutely loved it. This leads me onto Adam Godfrey, whose guitar was such a complement to Marcantonio’s bass. The synergy between the two instruments was mesmerising, and the riffs that Godfrey was producing and the raw sound he created was so admirable. 

Overall, the band put on a truly special performance. There was very real talent in that room, all created there and then, with the help of back-up vocals from touring member Mattie Vant, which were like a cherry on top of this delicious-sounding sundae. I think the only crime of this show is that the band weren't performing in a bigger venue with a more energetic crowd, because they certainly deserve it.