Chappaqua Wrestling Independent Venue Week Tour

Chappaqua Wrestling:

It is just under a year since Chappaqua Wrestling released their highly anticipated debut album 'Plus Ultra', a record that cemented the group as mainstays on the UK indie scene. Since then, the band have smashed sell out shows, become festival scene favourites, and even picked up a new member on the way. They are now coming to the end of their spring UK tour, supporting Independent Venue Week.

The now quintet, made up of Charlie Woods (Vocals & Guitar), Jake Mac (Vocals & Guitar), John-Paul Townsend (Drums), Coco Varda (Keys & Percussion) and Tom forbew (Bass) were almost spilling of the stage in The Portland Arms, such is the intimacy of this gig. There is always a special feeling when a band like this plays such a small venue, as you feel it may be the last time for a fair while, a band like Chappaqua Wrestling are destined for the big rooms. They Opened their set with the atmospheric 'Fair Game', and immediately took a hold of the room.

Need You No More' kicked the energy to an even higher level, tightening the bands grip on the audience, which they refused to loosen for
the next 40 minutes. They ripped through banger after banger, showcasing past singles, last year's album and even a few unreleased tracks. My biggest tip would be to keep your eye out for the future release of 'Catherine Wheels', I'm not sure I've ever seen an unreleased track capture an audience so well.

Woods and Mac alternated lead vocal responsibilities, showcasing the different influence both men have on the band. The packed-out crowd responded overwhelming positively to every note. It's a credit to Chappaqua Wrestling that they're able to garner such reactions from A matinee show. As final song 'Wide Asleep' reaches its end, the band repeat "Worry bout your present, then your future's fine", a motto that sums up exactly where Chappaqua are in the UK music scene. As a band they are putting in the hard miles in the present, and their talent shines through, showing just how important they will be to the UK music scene in the coming years.

HEADCHECK:

Opening the afternoon was local upcomers HEADCHECK. Born from the ashes of local bands Anorak, Substation and The Daze, HEADCHECK are somewhat of an upcoming supergroup, making huge waves in the Cambridge Music scene. Supporting a band like Chappaqua Wrestling is a huge opportunity for a band with only 1 released single, but its testament to the bands growing live reputation shown most by their recent heat 1 win in Bury Sounds, that a chance like this is fully deserved.

The young band, consisting of Cam Redmond (Vocals & Guitar), Ulas Sagar (Guitar), James Hynes (Bass) and Ned Newman (Drums), have a musicality well beyond their years, and bounce off each other like musicians who have played together for years. What is perhaps most impressive is due to Hynes' absence from this show, friend of the band Maddox Knight stepped in, but the performance still managed to be top drawer, showing their adaptability of the band

As HEADCHECK rolled through their set, they showcased a genre-blending mix of future hits, showing the raw talent and musicality they share. By the time set closer (and only released single) 'Hemingford Grey' came along, HEADCHECK had cemented themselves as firm crowd pleasers; this was a result of authentic songs being played with conviction, mixed with an infectious stage presence you immediately got on board with

This performance made it clear that although HEADCHECK may already be a must-see act, there is still so much more to come from them. They are gaining well-deserved traction throughout the local scene, and 1 have no doubt in my mind that with a few more singles under their belt, this quartet are going to take off big time. Be sure to see them while you can as it is only a matter of time until they are headlining rooms this size, and even bigger!