It’s another night at The Black Heart, the iconic venue in the center of Camden for many locals to grab a drink as well as an iconic venue where a huge array of artists have graced their stage. Not my first venture into the place, the bar was still covered in stickers and had a warm and welcoming energy for every alternative booted foot that walked through the door.
The night started with Arimea, a band from Oxford who toes the line between the hip hop elements, nu-metal and the alternative sound of the early 2000s bands many people grew up loving. Their inspirations range from Flyleaf to P.O.D, and this is clearly audible in their material. Lead singer Whitney immediately exploded with energy, despite the small stage. The crowd couldn’t help but be charmed by her charisma as she switched from clean vocals to rap and screaming. The band played through their short but explosive discography, with their latest releases ‘Liminal’ and ‘Castiel’ being particularly enjoyable, and before we knew it, they were ready to finish up with ‘Nostalgia’.
Arimea were then followed by three piece Sleep Outside. Before playing, they mentioned that they may be different to what the audience expects, but they were received well nonetheless. Their style resembles a mix of a pop punk emo feel with the odd math rock tempo switch up, and you can’t help but be drawn in by the energy of their drummer, Matt, despite him being relegated to the typical dark back wall of small venues. The crowd laughed when bassist Olly sarcastically said “It’s freezing up here” as we saw the sweat rolling down their faces, because yes, everyone in the audience was just as sweaty. While their high energy doesn’t quite match the group Sleep Outside followed, the setlist was genuinely enjoyable.
The room then very quickly filled up as the stage was prepared for the headliners, Lastelle. Lastelle spilled onto the stage to an atmospheric intro track as the lights changed to a red glow and the smoke billowed out. The band then broke into ‘Pine’, the opener from their latest EP, followed by ‘Bluebells’. The energy of the room was a packed-full sold out show with unbelievable energy, as lead singer Adam climbed on top of the stage’s front speakers to look out at the crowd, which sang every word back at him with passion. He even jumped straight into the crowd and handed the mic to an audience member at the front to join in. There were beautiful atmospheric interludes dotted through the set, which gave us some rest before they moved into more high-energy performances like ‘The Silence Hurts The Most’, ‘Life in Silhouettes’ and ‘Coping Without a Cure’. I managed to make my way to the back, drenched in sweat, as they prepared to finish with their popular lead single. Adam speaks before they play, “If you got tickets to this show then you know the words, our last song, this song is called Breathe Me In.” The audience sang along to the chorus’ catchy melody, the energy still as high as it was during the opener.
While the cold Camden air was a relief from the sweaty, hot room, fans still seemed high on energy as we all filed towards the tube station. After this crammed sold out show, I don’t doubt Lastelle will be moving on to bigger venues in the future.
Written by: Chiara Fulgoni
Photographed by: Chiara Fulgoni
Edited by: Nèri Cliteur
