Darlia made their return to the Southampton last Saturday playing at The Joiners’ sister venue, Unit. The club was pretty empty and unfortunately did not fill up that much when the bands came on to play, perhaps being due to the start of the Easter vacation and a large portion of the student population having gone home.
The support act of the night consisted of Southampton’s own Fever, a grunge/surf rock band. Displaying psychedelic guitars and impassioned vocals, their set was tight and impressive for a young band just starting out. The debut release ‘Shell Shock’ was a particular stand out track. This band is definitely one to watch out for in the future.
Darlia came on stage around 12:30 and opened their set quickly with a track from their new EP Candyman, ‘Blood Money’. This track is a definite crowd pleaser with its electric energy. This was followed by the catchy ‘Vanilla’, which the band recently performed for their Maida Vale Session, featured by Huw Stevens on Radio 1 and the sinister latest single ‘Candyman’.
Darlia then introduced a new track ‘Dear Diary’ which definitely does not disappoint with it’s catchy chorus, followed by one of their early songs ‘Bite The Apple’.
The band debuted the live performance of Candyman EP track ‘Animal Kingdom’ which was a crowd favourite. With a small crowd, during the next song ‘Pandemonium’, bassist Dave Williams jumped off stage to interact with them, getting a small group dancing.
New song ‘Typhoid Mary’ was debuted before ending their set with Knock Knock EP favourites ‘Napalm’ and ‘Queen of Hearts’. This fiery duo of songs were a hit with the crowd who had finally found a bit of energy!
It was a shame that their wasn’t a larger crowd, especially since Darlia are making quite a name for themselves with increasing Radio 1 airplay and numerous festival appearances lined up this summer. Despite this, the band performed a great setlist of old favourites and new tracks with great energy and enthusiasm which was well received. With a new EP on the horizon and the hope of an album at the end of the year, 2014 is set to be pivotal for Darlia.
Darlia’s Candyman EP is out 14th April via B-Unique records.
