My first gig of 2025 was one of King Tuts January showcase gigs as part of their New Years Revolution series with a four band smorgasbord of styles headlined by one of my “25 for ‘25” tips for great things, Tanzana.
So, was it worth braving sub zero temperatures during a tiring and challenging first week back at work following the festive period when I could just have retreated under a warm blanket in front of The Traitors?
I knew from the first bars of Save Face’s first tune, the cunningly titled Intro, that they alone would have been worth the trip. Having been enjoying an advance copy of their EP due out next week, it was opportune timing to get to see the band shine in a gig environment and hear their songs live. I’ve been overdosing on The Muldoons latest long player this week so there was a certain serendipity watching a band whose set featured the trumpet heavily. The bands jangly indie-folk sound, at times with an element of Afro beat influences, is sublime, featuring some divine dual vocals. Their final song saw them raise the energy with a raucous set closer in Nobody (introduced as “a song about waking up and you only have a head”) Definitely a band to watch.
One of the great things about the New Years Revolution gigs is the variety. Perhaps you buy a ticket for a certain band, but you have an opportunity to catch the other bands you’ve maybe not heard before or play a different genre than you’d normally watch.
I admit, I wasn’t sure about Aldous when they first kicked off, but as their set progressed I started warming to them, so by the time they got to their last couple of songs I was more invested and enjoying their blend of dream/psych-shoegaze that was at times reminiscent of Slowdive.
The loud and intense hard rock from the trio of Naked Actress at first had me ruing my choice of standing right next to the speaker stack, but their ear-splitting set was highly entertaining, including a quick exit stage moment with a sprint up to the dressing room for a replacement guitar after a string snapped. I could reference loads of influences but I’ll stick to a couple, the trios sound lying somewhere between Therapy? and Rage Against the Machine. I particularly liked their slower songs along with some of the stand outs in the gritty grunge of Oxygen, the Silverchair Frogstomp era-tinged Let Me In and the excellent Not My Scene.
A great musical taster menu so far, and the headliners were yet to come. Having just released their debut single, Covet that morning, you could almost feel the weight of expectation hanging over the venue, the anticipation building as the quintet prepared themselves for their set. The band took to the stage dressed like The Last Dinner Party with a Scottish twist )influenced by early Spandau Ballet maybe – ask your folks). The aforementioned band are the darlings of the UK music industry and press, and if there was any justice in the word then Tanzana should be breaking through and achieving the same plaudits any day now, if I was wowed by Tanzana the first time I witnessed them live, this time their performance was off the scale. The five musicians were as tight as you can get, synchronised to within an inch of their lives and playing as if their lives depended on it, epic bass lines, searing guitars, Wah Wah effects, and a solid beat from the back. I literally would have gone home with a huge grin on my face if I’d left after the first song, a mind blowing take on Massive Attack’s Safe From Harm, utterly making the song their own. The reception from King Tuts was outstanding, and got louder and louder as the band progressed through their set, including a Radiohead cover, which they also pretty much owned. The two covers representing the bands sound well, a trip hop influenced alt-rock sound that ranges from quietly bombastic to full on muscular riffs and a monstrous sound. A tight shit-hot band deserves a quality vocalist, and boy does Freya deliver, with an incredible range and a sound all of her own. I was trying at one point to pinpoint if she sounded like anyone, but her voice is an instrument in itself, with a range that hits the soulful power of Whitehouse, Raye and Eartha Kitt and at quieter times like that of Alison Shaw of Cranes, whose gig in King Tuts back in the 90s was the last time I remember being as mesmerised by and fixated on a vocal.
I’ve mentioned covers but it would be remiss of me not to mention their own songs which shone brightly as they soared through the venue from the sultry and breathless, through soulful and hypnotic to downright intense rock. Standout song was the single I mentioned earlier, Covet, which had literally just been released on the day of the gig with which they closed a spectacular set in style. Watch this space, guaranteed you’ll be hearing much more from this extraordinary band.