There are few bands I’ve seen live that have as much dedication to their art and fans as The Family Rain had during their gig at The Joiners. The band’s performance really signified a major reason as to why new bands and smaller gigs really have their own special appeal; that bands are willing to go the extra mile for their audience, even when it looks like things are going head-first into the gutter.
Both supports, Fever and Darlia, helped build the energy and atmosphere required to make a gig like this really shine. Fever’s simple but effective punk/indie rock songs provided a nice opening to the night, with bold, anthemic choruses and youthful attitude. Second on was Darlia, who ramped up the atmosphere to an even higher degree with heavy grunge semi-reminiscent of Nirvana, something which seemed to cause the large amount of under 16’s to go absolutely wild. I wanted to especially give a mention to the bassist, who gave a phenomenally good performance using dimensions I had never even heard before, showing that the commonly forgotten bassist can sometimes make a band.
But it was the headliners who stole the show and gave a performance to be proud of. At first, all seemed to be going smoothly, with the boys starting off with ‘Carnival’ and, after addressing the crowd, moving swiftly into my favourite song ‘Friction’. Yet after playing some of their newest material, due to make an appearance on their debut, frontman Will abruptly strode to the back corner and vomited. It was unexpected to say the least, considering how well he had been singing and playing up to that point. But this did not sway him, and much to his credit, Will once again took up the mic and soldiered on bravely. With the crowd firmly pumped up by the drama, with Will pausing a couple of times to eject yet more fluids into the corner, The Family Rain fought on to play ‘Pushing It’ and some additional older songs.
The finale was a suspense filled three minutes, with the combined efforts of the audience’s cheering, and encouragement from brothers Tim and Ollie, providing enough strength for Will to power on to finish with ‘Feel Better (FRANK)’ and ‘Trust me… I’m a genius’. At this moment the then crowd swarmed onto the stage to give Will a firm pat on the back and to round off a rather bizarre, yet fantastic performance.
