Arriving in Brighton on the last leg of a victory lap around the UK following the critical acclaim to their long-awaited debut, You Say I’m Too Much, I Say You’re Not Enough, Estrons provoked absolute scenes at the Green Door Store. Like all of the best things in life, it is jagged, ragged and wild. Headlining a dream line-up alongside Lucia and Berries, it acts as the perfect gateway into the weekend.
If London indie-popsters Berries get the night off to a suitably zippy and banging start with a set that reaches a perfect crescendo with the mighty ‘Discreetly’, then Glaswegian band Lucia take it to a whole new level. There is the same ‘on-the-cusp’ vibe about tonight’s set that the likes of Dream Wife and Black Honey were producing last year, that sense of a group that are about to go stratospheric. Lucia Fontaine is phenomenal tonight and, as she prowls amongst the crowd to scream lyrics to ‘Melted Ice Cream’ in various faces, she is electrifying. Early 2019 single ‘Blue Heart’ is a sign of what is to come next year, in what is surely going to be a period of breaking big.
If there is any doubt as to what we are in for, the thumping one-two of ‘Lilac’ and ‘Body’ set the template for a riotous Estrons performance. Singer Tali Källström is a force of nature, staring at the chaos that unfolds in front of her, weighing up the madness with a good-natured smirk on her face. The wall of sound that erupts around her from the other band members is devastating, the entire night feeling like you are barrelling over a waterfall repeatedly – crashing highs, an unending tide of moshers crashing into the stage from first minute to last.
With just a handful of non-album early singles (all of which would have slotted into the record perfectly), it is the perfect advert for a band who take their name from the Welsh word for ‘outsider’ or ‘alien’. The beauty of music is that outsiders quickly find themselves surrounded by like-minded souls, and that is how it has been all tour, and certainly tonight. Clasping hands with the front row, nodding to familiar faces, sending someone to the bar for a cheeky gin and tonic, it’s a celebratory mood for Källström and the band.
They take no prisoners though, with moments of exceptional power. Rhodri Daniel and Steffan Pringle’s riffs thunder through the finale to ‘Killing Your Love’, sending nervous glances around the room as the moshpit increases exponentially in size. However, the softer moments resonate too, the beautiful ‘Cameras’ surely destined to ring around festival crowds of increasing sizes throughout 2019. Yet, it is in those moments when the storm hits that Estrons really land too. ‘Aliens’, ‘Make A Man’, ‘Drop’, these are anthems of the future happening right now. With few of their peers able to exist at the same level on the live setting, the outsiders are taking over.
Jamie MacMillan
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