Eagulls & Bad Breeding LIVE @ The Cookie Jar, Leicester 14/10/14

Coming off the back of their full-blown tour across America, Punk-Rock band Eagulls headlined The Cookie Jar, found right in the center of Leicester. The five-piece guitar-heavy band rocked out along with support Bad Breeding, both of whom are making big names for themselves in the alternative scene at the minute. Having appeared on the hit US TV show Letterman, it is clear that this band is making a name for themselves not only over here, but across the pond as well. Eagulls have only released one album but they’re joining a luxurious group of artists – such as Catfish and The Bottlemen and The Struts – who have a stellar debut record with a phenomenal impact – leading to a very loyal following.

Kicking off the night was Bad Breeding, a group who hail from the small town of Stevenage. Having appeared in NME’s article of ’20 tracks you need to hear’ this week – the crowd were clearly really looking forward to these as much as they were Eagulls. It was refreshing to see such a big crowd for the support act and not just for the main artist. The band was packed with energy, raucous guitars and rapturous drums. Matched with the frontman’s ability to involve the crowd by moving none stop and relentlessly delving into the pit at the front, these were the perfect opener to what was going to be a superb performance by Eagulls. At times it was hard to hear what was being sung however the loyal fans at the front knew every word as the music was conveyed emphatically to the energetic audience at the front. These clearly know how to put a show on and it wouldn’t surprise me if soon they were headlining venues like these up and down the country.

Eagulls took to the stage around half an hour later, after the buzz around the venue regenerated. Making their way to the stage through the crowd, the atmosphere was electric before they had even sorted their instruments out. Their standout songs for me were the hits ‘Nerve Endings’ and ‘Hollow Vision’. The crowd were lively, towards the front there was a mosh pit which involved people from all ages and gender. The band clearly appeal to more than one demographic, towards the back people were slightly more lethargic however they still admired the music and had at least a toe-tapping or head-bopping to every song. Their sound is very similar to that of Echo & the Bunnymen and Joy Division – with the frontman’s voice being reminiscent of Ian Curtis’. Eagulls have been awarded both ‘New band of the day’ by the Guardian and ‘Radar band of the week’ by the highly reputable and influential NME. After this show it was easy to tell why – they are packing out venues all over the UK with this show being one of the 3 gigs that sold out before the tour had begun. It won’t be soon until these venues get bigger and bigger and they rise up the stages at festivals. One fan at gig proclaimed that ‘This is what rock music should be like!’ which was greeted by cheers from others. Eagulls are here and are here to stay.