Before tonight’s show I’m downstairs having dinner with the band at The Hope & Ruin. They seem incredibly calm, slowly sipping a few cans of beer. There don't seem to be any pre-gig nerves, no sense of hyping themselves up or getting into any ‘zone’. After recently releasing their first single through Heavenly Records, the band have gained quite a bit of momentum. They’ve released through other labels before and have quite a selection of singles and EPs. This has slowly but surely been gaining them a very loyal following throughout the country.

The Orielles tour regularly, having previously played downstairs at The Hope & Ruin a few months ago. That was to a much smaller crowd; now the band are upstairs and the show is on the brink of selling out. They walk onstage to huge cheers, keeping the same low key demeanour they had during dinner downstairs. With a slightly shy “hello” from guitarist Henry, the band burst into their first song. They instantly erupt with energy and all that show adrenaline is pouring out. There's moshing on stage and the band’s excitement rubs off on the audience.

Having seen the band a few months prior, as well as a year or so before that at Brighton’s Bleach, their live sound has come on leaps and bounds and they’ve never sounded as polished and refined as this. Every jangly note from Henry’s guitar cuts through perfectly and you can hear every detail. They sound more confident too, with singer Esme’s vocals being clear and spot on. Their live sound has really come together and manages to reflect the recordings but keeping all the youthful excitement of a live show.

They play through all of their released material. From the early singles and demos as well as fan favourites such as ‘Joey Says We Got It’ and ‘Jobin’. There are very few words exchanged between the band and audience. That's not their style and they're more keen to give us as many songs as they can tonight. Between songs I note a crowd of people behind me in obvious awe of the band. After the ending of each song, one excited girl tells her friends “they’re so talented!” sounding more like she’s asking them if they’re seeing what she’s seeing, which everyone in the room is.

They end on their latest single ‘Sugar Tastes Like Salt’, a nine minute track which has time to evolve and sees the band experimenting with their sound, seeing how far they can push it. Live it works brilliantly, it’s a song littered with small details and they all come through. Then, like a flash they’re gone, their set was quite short but extremely effective. No surprises or sneak peaks of new songs but the set demonstrates how far the band’s music has come. They sound more confident and sleek, still keeping their fun, almost naïve feel which gained them a following from the start.

It's a celebration of everything the band has done so far almost sounding like the end of the beginning with a very exciting second chapter to come. For such a young band they ooze talent and potential. They clearly have an incredibly strong work ethic which is paying off very nicely for them. The fans seem to be just as excited to see what The Orielles' future holds as the band do themselves; I’m sure we’ll be welcoming them back to Brighton with open arms soon enough.

Chris Middleton

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