Simon Rushworth
@ Newcastle Riverside, February 25 2015
Marmozets fired through a raucous set packed full of riffs and it ended very aptly – with a guitarist submerged in the crowd taking selfies.
Made up of two sets of siblings from Bingley in West Yorkshire, the band are midway through their UK headline tour in preparation for heading out on a mammoth US trip starting next month.
It’s only been three months since their last appearance in Newcastle: the Riverside venue was a clear step up from the O2 Academy’s smaller room but it didn’t faze them in the slightest.
Supported on the night by Belgian sludge-metal outfit Steak Number Eight and dreamy Wiltshire progressives Thought Forms, they’ve gathered momentum off their acclaimed debut album The Weird And Wonderful Marmozets released in September last year.
Even more so than through their studio work, energetic live performances have helped spread the word and it was easy to see why.
Opening up with one of the singles from that LP Move, Shake, Hide, lead singer Becca Macintrye immediately signalled her intent to whip up the crowd.
That was followed up by a string of punchy hits including Is It Horrible and Weird And Wonderful which were only enhanced by the band’s enthusiasm.
A brief respite came in the form of Captivate You as Macintrye showed off the vocal range and picked petals from the rose wrapped around her mic stand.
Putting Will Bottomley’s driving bass line on Particle and the frantic, complex guitar riffs his brother Jack deals with on Vibetech together cranked up the intensity again as a circle pit broke out under the chaotic light show.
Another single Born Young And Free allowed everybody to engage in its defiant chant of a chorus, by this point drummer Josh Macintrye had disposed of his shirt and jacket such was his workload.
Relatively slow burner Back To You meant the room could draw breath for the first time in about 30 minutes and again displayed the range of material that’s present on the album.
Big closer Why Do You Hate Me? provided the sing-a-long ending as the third Macintyre sibling Sam plunged into the crowd with guitar in hand and was immediately mobbed, summing up the clear mutual appreciation of performers and fans.
The promise of new recordings in the near future drew a huge cheer at the end and Marmozets left little doubt they’ll be back to rock Newcastle again.
Mike Fuller