By Sarah Kramer
Bush Hall is the place for a lively show by up-and-coming artists. Built-in 1904 as a dance hall, the venue has plenty of room for dancing, mosh-pits and crowd surfing.
Last week, the independent, grassroots venue hosted four bands for a loud, live show. Michael Cera Palin, an indie punk band from Atlanta that is not to be confused with Michael Palin (or Michael Cera – or Sarah Palin!), headlined the historic venue with openers, Lakes, Suds and itoldyouiwouldeatyou.
Joey Ashworth, the lead singer of itoldyouiwouldeatyou, said: “Opening for their [Michael Cera Palin] first show in the UK was great. The crowd had such good energy and playing on the same stage as legendary artists was surreal.”
Bush Hall has been host to many household names such as Lily Allen, and Sean Ono Lennon’s duo with Charlotte Kemp Muhl: The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger. The Who has been said to have used the space for rehearsals in the ’60s, after it was revamped from when it was used during WWII as a soup kitchen.
Suds and Lakes started the show off with quite the kick, bringing the energy that was expected of the crowd for the rest of the night. Groovy songs of theirs like ‘Hard for Me’ from Suds and ‘Warning Signs’ from Lakes, were fun to dance to for everyone, even if nobody knew the bands or the songs, everyone left with a new favourite.
The energy and size of the crowd doubled for itoldyouiwouldeatyou, the only thing lacklustre was the sound system. The band played energetically slamming their instruments, creating loud and beautiful sounds, so loud the speakers nearly went out twice through their set.
On stage, the drummer of itoldyouiwouldeatyou, Maeve took a moment to speak about trans rights, they said: “Everyone deserves a place to be welcome, what was said in front of Brianna Ghey’s mother this week shows how little world leaders care about trans people. That should change, you all have the power to help change that.”
Itoldyouiwouldeatyou welcomed main act Michael Cera Palin and almost immediately opened an intense mosh pit. If you spent too much time listening to the songs the band was playing, there’s a chance you would have found yourself getting picked up off the floor by the crowd around you.
Dan Green, 22, a fine arts student, who attended the concert said: “That was the craziest pit I’ve ever been in, look I got two black eyes! Before I knew it I was pushed so close to the stage I just jumped up and dove into the crowd, it was my first time crowd surfing.”
Michael Cera Palin made sure to keep the energy up by telling off the security guards trying to stop the crowd surfers and moshers. Even though their songs are low-tempo, midwest emo songs, fans made sure to show the band they were enjoying the performance.
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