Anyone who hasn’t been to The Dome before may have walked into the venue tonight and wondered if they had come to the right place. The scuffed wooden floors, frumpy net curtains and arched walls take you back to the village halls that housed your mate’s 16th birthday or your high school prom. But, the major giveaway that confirms you’re in the right place for a High Tyde gig, is the fitting demographic. Shoegazing teenagers congregate in huddles, nursing pints and self-consciously mouthing along to classic indie anthems by Arctic Monkeys and Kasabian. The playlist cleverly sparks the idea that High Tyde are following in the footsteps of the great guitar bands before them, but it’s their incendiary set that confirms it.
From the ferocious new cut, ‘Keep On’, to the explosive closer of ‘Dark Love’, the band deliver an infectious energy and relentless pace that is rapturously received from the off. Pints are lobbed, testosterone-fulled mosh pits open and there isn’t one audience member standing still by the end of the first song. It’s astonishing the power the quartet yield without the aid of synths or backing tracks, but it’s a testament to the strength of their almighty hooks; something which is further proved by the new chart-bothering material that dominates the set.
Surprisingly, the band clock off after just thirty-five minutes but it’s hard to walk away feeling disappointed after such an urgent and ambitious set. With every show they play, and every new single released, High Tyde prove that they are destined for bigger audiences. But before they reach mainstream success, this is a band that belong to the hoards of idolising teenagers who’ve found the best new guitar band to believe in.
