On Wednesday (08/05/13), I made my way up to The Garage with a few friends to go and see Wayward Daughter. I'm not entirely sure what I was expecting before I got to the gig but I don't think I expected what actually happened to happen.
I'd never been to the upstairs part of The Garage prior to this gig so it was nice to see what was already one of the most intimate venues in London, become even more intimate. Really nice venue - 150(ish) capacity. So, once we were inside, I spotted a few fans wearing their Wayward Daughter T-Shirts and standing right in front of the stage. It's always nice to see a band starting from their roots and to see how their fans kind of evolve as the band gets bigger and bigger. And as if it couldn't get more surreal, Becky ran up to me just before the first support came on and told me that they'd SOLD OUT!! Absolutely insane! So so proud of them.
Anyway to the music part... The first support act on was a band called Garden Heart from Brighton. Before the gig I'd listened to one of their songs and didn't think too much of them, but oh my goodness!! They completely blew me away. They had a 5 song set but I definitely could've listened to a few more songs. Their lead singer Lizzy's vocals meshed perfectly with the female bassist and female pianist's - the three-part harmonies were a little HAIM-esque which was nice. The last song they performed - "Water" - may be my favourite of theirs. It is definitely worth checking these guys out because they are very talented. Extremely impressive set - I'd love it if they released an EP or album soon. Check out their soundcloud here.
Next the second support act TIDES from Hertfordshire took to the stage. I liked how the lads all wore suits on stage together - although their guitarist did look a little like a maths teacher. They had a really strong set, probably the tightest set of the night if I'm honest. However, I probably enjoyed Garden Heart's set more. You could definitely tell that these guys knew what they were doing though and their lead singer had fantastic vocals. Get a free download of their song here.
And finally, what everyone had been waiting for, the headliners, WAYWARD DAUGHTER! This has to have been one of the most surreal gigs I've ever been too. Seeing my friends tear it up on a stage at a gig that was sold out, where everyone was there just for them! Madness. They opened with a personal favourite of mine - "Class A". The place had really started to pack up by now and so when the band ripped into this you could really feel the crowd's electricity. They then played through tracks "The Game" and "Extraordinary Despondency" along with a couple brand new songs "Gravity" and "Riot". Lydia's vocals were on top form and the crowd's participation was great. After these few songs the band stepped off-stage leaving Becky and Lydia to go back to their acoustic roots.
The crowd seemed to definitely connect with these acoustic songs a bit more, as for a lot of them, this was what got them interested in Wayward Daughter initially. They played through "Hello Sanity", "One Three One", "A Year And A Day" and "You Ain't Woman Enough (Cover)" before the rest of the band joined them on stage again. These next four or five songs were probably my favourite part of their set this whole night. They played one of their more underrated and chilled songs "Lost" with some lyrical changes and unique keys parts. Then they came back heavy with a cover of Maroon 5's "Harder To Breathe" which was so so on point - so much so that I think some people must've thought it was a WD original. They really made it their own. Next up was "Bones" probably my favourite song they performed all night. They absolutely SMASHED this song! There are no faults I could've given to this performance - stellar.
As the set was coming to an end the band played the first song that Becky and Lydia ever wrote together "What I Have Done" - it was awesome to hear the crowd singing the lyrics back to them. And then of course, what is probably their most popular song - "For The Keeping". The crowd really connected with this song, arms and phones were waving in the air, couples were cuddling and singing the lyrics to each other. This is probably the only song that whole night that every single person in the venue knew all of the words to - and you could hear it. The crowd was almost louder than Lydia. This was a real stand out moment. The band then finished with "5 More Drinks" - the place went feral - heads were bopping up and down, arms were flailing about - to be honest their set felt more like a party than a gig and the crowd were obviously loving it. When they closed and walked off stage, everyone continued to chant "WE WANT MORE! WE WANT MORE!" and after a while Becky ran on stage and said into the mic "If you scream really loud, we'll come back on and play Class A". Of course the audience went mad and the band came back on and played Class A even better than they did the first time! (in my opinion)
Truly a night to remember. Just a small EP Launch but I know it meant a lot to a whole lot of different people and this is just the beginning. Who knows, in a few years they could be headlining arenas?! So keep an ear out for these girls...
Overall Rating: 9/10
Here are some pictures from the night...
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