On the 27th of October, Vienna a rising star in the Birmingham scene held a show hosted by the Hare & Hounds in Kings Heath. Having never visited the venue or caught Vienna live, I had no idea what to expect. Three bands supported Vienna: Mesa Verde, Ugly Jumper and Spiralling. Mesa Verde being a band I’d had my eye on for a while, I was excited to see them perform

Mesa Verde

Having some prior knowledge on Mesa Verde had left me with high expectations for their opening set. I must say they did not disappoint one bit. Fry screams are a door to my heart, so hearing such a wicked set of pipes from the get go had me pumped up. These guys sure have a lot on their mind too. Their track ‘Sixteen Minutes’ about the New Orleans bar fire of 1973 touched me personally, hitting home about the injustices queer people still face to this day. Mesa Verde wear their hearts on their sleeves both in the studio and on stage.

Ugly Jumper

What an awesome follow-up to mesa Verde. These guys brought a totally different vibe to the stage. Their name had me thinking of Mom Jeans, which I quickly brushed aside as they started their set. Ugly Jumper played a lot of new music they were excited to release, but their currently out song ‘Penny Pot’ really jumped out at me as one to listen to on repeat. Upon checking out their discography I was shocked to see how unknown these guys were seeing as they performed like veteran giants throughout. Very charismatic group, I hope to see more releases from them soon.

Spiralling

Being the final support act of the night, I had a feeling that Spiralling had something special to share. We saw a much slower, more melodic start to their set. I was in my feelings from the start to the end of their set, aided deeply by the power in their vocals. Their track ‘Daisy’ had members of the crowd hollering and excited from the announcement of it alone. I fear it may find its way into my own playlists too, it was certainly worth the hype. Spiralling are exactly the sort of sound I think of when I hear the word ’emo’. What an asset to the evening they were, I hope to catch them live again soon.

Vienna

Admittedly, I hadn’t heard a single song by Vienna until this very night. However I’d only heard praise on their name. The crowd absolutely lost it, hitting mosh pits, clapping along and singing along all throughout. The sort of atmosphere you rarely see at local gigs anymore took my breath away. Vienna had the entire crowd packed in toward the stage while giving all their heart and soul to their music. Vienna announced they would be playing their song ‘Stare Into The Sky’, setting the entire crowd into frenzy of woos and yays. Having never heard it before it’s safe to say that it was one of the best tracks I’d heard all evening- seeing the audience lose it at one of their older tracks I was excited to sit at home and go through their discography in my spare time.

From their newer releases, Vienna’s song ‘Just Friends’ blew me away. These guys evoked such a great array of emotion in the crowd throughout their set. Safe to say the atmosphere was electric. Any time these guys play in the future I will be itching to catch them.

If you get chance to see all four of these incredible artistic groups separate or together, I urge you to go for it. The talent showcased in this one night was astronomical.