The K’s
In case you’ve missed it, The K’s have already arrived and are here to stay. Incredibly, they are also somehow still without a record deal. The K’s are somewhat of a throwback to the 00s indie scene. Where a group of lads can mix biting guitar riffs with catchy lyrical imagery, and rip through venue after venue on their way to notoriety and wider acclaim.
Breeze and The Dulvertons
Hull’s own Breeze opened the night. Despite their young age, they have been making a name across the local scene. They impressed and suitably warmed up the crowd with their Oasis and Kasabian influenced brand of indie rock. Up next were The Dulvertons – another Hull local band, with a foot stomping energy and sing along spirit that’s hard to ignore. Frontman Shaun Ratcliffe commanded the room immediately with real confidence, and the band brought a well-executed rock and roll sound and a party mood that lifted the crowd.
Got a Feeling
It wasn’t their first time in Hull or even at The Welly. However it was fitting that they had been upgraded this time to the larger capacity main room – and very much needed. The room swelled with excitement when the stage darkened and the band came out to ‘Once in a Lifetime’.
The guitars to set opener ‘Picture’ lit a match in the crowd, and Jamie Boyle’s sharp vocals were quickly in gear. The crowd then matched his vocals in ‘Got a Feeling’ with its anthemic chorus of ‘But I’ve got a feeling you’ve explained it’. Then ‘TV’ showed off more of the band’s clever song-writing. The frantic rhythmic energy and Boyle’s racing despair of the damage caused by superficial celebrity culture shows their evolution in becoming more than just another simplistic lad’s indie band.
Chancer
Up next, Boyle asked if the Welly if they’d heard their latest single ‘Chancer’. The bouncing sing along response from the crowd was enough of an answer. By this point, the front of the room was a hot and sweaty place to be. The iconic ‘Glass Towns’ only exacerbated this. Those at the front appreciated a much needed breather with ‘Hoping Maybe’. The melancholic acoustic showed a more reflective side to the band, but without losing any of their anthemic qualities.
Afterwards the high energy returned with ‘Hometown’ and ‘Aurora’. Then the band stripped the instrumentation back to just vocals, and keyboard from guitarist Ryan Breslin. Repeated Hull based chants were cut short by the opening lines of ‘Valley One’ – another fan favourite.
Sarajevo
However the real fan favourite followed afterwards. ‘Sarajevo’ is their most successful song to date, and they united the room in ‘all out war’ in everyone’s favourite WW1 metaphor for a troubled relationship. It felt like all out war when the frenzied mosh pit kept expanding for this track.
After finishing off with ‘Dacton & Wanderella’, the band left the stage triumphantly to another successfully won over crowd. It feels like it’s only a matter of time before The K’s step up from being indie’s best kept secret to achieving nationwide success. Maybe another festival season and even more future sing along classics will secure it.
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