Little Comets, Eliza And The Bear: O2 Academy 2, Liverpool

Little Comets

Despite early delays and a missing guitarist, Getintothis’ Jackie Lees saw Little Comets pull through and put on a great night at the O2 Academy.

Doors and the show time were delayed – these things never happen without good reason but basking in the internal blue hue of the O2 Academy listening to an exceptionally good pre-set play list, it didn’t matter.

When London based Eliza And The Bear arrived on stage they shook us from the chill zone with their big sound, hooky lyrics and catchy beats, definitely worth the wait. The five-piece band, who take their name from a collection of poems by Liverpool’s Eleanor Rees, smashed through their set with an infectious energy which instantly won over the crowd, cramming as many songs as possible into their half hour set including Lionheart, Light it up and closing with the anthemic Friends. Their performance was polished and joyful and conjured up the feeling that you’d just had a dose of summer. If you don’t know this band already – seek them out.

Little Comets opened their set before pausing to explain that one of the North-East trio, Mickey, couldn’t be with them due to the imminent, early arrival of his baby. Rather than cancel their gig, they were joined by guitarist Reuben, who had remarkably managed to learn the whole, often intricate, one and a half hour set in a day. This got him a well-deserved massive round of applause from the crowd who might otherwise have had to find something else to do with their Friday night.

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Infinitely accessible, there is something for everyone here, complex melodies, clever use of percussion, light, upbeat songs such as One Night in October and The Man Who Wrote Thriller, contrasting against those with tragic and sinister themes, Same Lover and Violence Out Tonight. However, it was their early track, Joanna which garnered the wildest excitement, the very first word of the vocal intro had the crowd jumping and singing as one.

Enigmatic frontman, Robert Coles, thanked the crowd for their response and explained that the band spends most of the year in a garage writing songs and never know if they’re good or not until they get out and play them live. He needn’t have worried, this band clearly have no fear of the experimental, even unusual and slightly off-kilter beats are not shied away from and it works.

Final thoughts must lie with Mickey and his partner and the hope that all is well.