I’d been looking forward to seeing the Growlers play ever since their packed-out gig at Green Door Store last year. This year the Growlers are on tour with Fat White Family and on each night of the tour they leave it up to fate to decide which band will headline and which will support with a mere toss of a coin which, not only is a brilliant way of keeping fans on their toes but also seems very in keeping with the quirky personalities of both Fat White Family and the Growlers.
For this particular gig, the all-mighty-coin decided that the Growlers were going to be the ones to kick the night off, however, due to the fact that the band couldn’t find their lead singer as they were due on stage, there was a bit of a delay in them starting their set which meant cutting it by 10 minutes – all that said though, when they did finally make it to the stage – the Growlers almost buzzed off their fashionable lateness with a nonchalant attitude and blasé appearance. The extraordinarily hipster crowd exploded with applause and the equally hipster members of the Growlers didn’t seem to be fazed by the audiences reaction in the slightest.
 
Front man – Brooks Nielsen, is one of the most laid back yet addictive-to-watch performers I’ve ever seen. With one hand on the mic and the other cradling the lead with his hand to his heart, every lyric that comes out of his mouth seems entirely sincere whilst still managing to hold on to his trademark ‘cheek’. Nielsen, along with Kyle Straka (lead guitar/keyboard) and Anthony Perry (bass) are the only original members of The Growlers and you can tell when you see them live as the energy these three share on stage (especially Straka and Nielsen) is not only incredibly amusing and very tongue and cheek but is also highly endearing to watch. Often Straka would sidle up to Nielsen and would have a ‘sexy’ dance together and massively over-play the whole rock-star (yet chilled out version) performance. Straka posed in a rather camp outfit and sported overly sexualized yet jokingly Jagger-style moves with the classic rotating hips of Elvis. The Growlers are clearly a band that has a lot of fun with what they do and manage to inject their eccentricity into each and every one of the audience members.
 
Whilst the Growlers still managed to put on a great gig, unfortunately they did make quite a few mistakes and at one point even lead singer Nielsen commented saying ‘I suppose we’ve got time for one more song – lets hope we don’t fuck it up like the last one!’. Whilst it was obvious that there were a few blips with the set, it didn’t seem to bother the Growlers nor the audience and were able to carry on with their very sanguine, feel-good surf music. Even though it wasn’t their best gig, I still thoroughly enjoyed their set as the Growlers seem able to pull off any mistake and still make it look cool.
 
Their new album ‘Chinese Fountain’ is out on the 28th September and the Growlers are offering a super fan bundle which is by far the most exciting bundle I’ve seen a band produce for a long time and only for a mere £45 ($75)
This will include; ‘12” Vinyl of ‘Chinese Fountain’, Chinese Fountain’ T-Shirt, Ash Tray (with album artwork included), Hand Drum, 18" x 24" Poster, Growlers Shot Glass, Gold Leaf Rolling paper, Fortune Cookie AND a Custom Polaroid – (the band will be taking custom polaroid pictures for each individual fan who purchases a bundle. Likely not for the faint of heart.)
 
Website: thegrowlers.com