03 February 2015 (gig)
06 February 2015
Playing at the legendary 100 Club for the NME Awards 2015 with Austin Texas, Pennsylvanian quartet The Districts showed how four barely twenty something’s should rock a room.
Lead singer Rob Grote had the bobbing sweaty head of an energized Matthew Murphy of the Wombats throughout the first few songs “Peaches”, "Hounds” and “Rocking Chair”. The crowd probably wondered if guitarists Connor Jacobus and Mark Larson had eyes, with so much hair flailing about the Dulux dog would have be jealous. A favourite of the night was “Suburban Smell”, delightfully stripped back this tune alone is worth buying the album for and has a slight resemblance to The White Stripes We’re Going To Be Friends.
The Districts have a rhythm and blues sound to their music which often gets them compared to bands like Kings of Leon. The new album “A Flourish and a Spoil” is no “Youth and Young Manhood” however there is the chance these four could be as good as this album. They do seem a few albums away from this sort of success and that’s because they still sound like they are finding their feet music wise however they seem fully formed live.
Being so young you may assume The Districts have a young fan base. This was definitely not the case and why you shouldn’t judge a band by its cover. With the majority of over thirties coolly sipping on their beers the five teenager at the front moshed all the way through. Their enthusiasm for this band probably came close to an excited One Direction fan meeting Harry styles for the first time.
This intimate gig was exactly the right place for a band like The Districts to show off their raw and unpolished sound. With only two girls in the crowd they were unlikely to get lucky afterwards but they should get lucky with their new album. NME were right to give a nod to their music, young, fresh, angry and very, very sweaty they better get hydrated because they have a busy year ahead.
