Live Review: British India, Stillwater Giants

Launching into old favourites like Walking On Air and Fly Under The Radar (on request from an audience member), Stillwater Giants made the room come alive with their energetic, indie-surf tunes. After a quick joke about bass player Kyle Lockyer's underwear and some crowd heckling to take his pants off, it was time for the band to break into some newer songs from their upcoming release Munich. These songs included the first single Montage and overall seem to be more upbeat than past releases. Shortly after, lead singer Henry Clarke busted out the acoustic guitar for some more soulful songs, with the characteristic sweeping melodies from lead guitarist Tom Godden bringing the whole crowd to attention. The band then got the crowd moving with a song that started with a heavy bassline, showing that the bass and drum side of the band were not to be forgotten and were also in top form. The band exited on a slower song coupled with a funny-yet-awkward bow as the house DJ cranked the party tunes in order to pump up the crowd for the main act.    

British India kicked off their set with Black & White Radio with a roar from the packed room as Declan Melia screamed, "You make friends with ugly people so you stand out in a crowd!" over the well-known riff. They then informed the crowd they would be covering songs from the newest album Nothing Touches Me as well as all of the band's hits. They had a hugely varied set covering most of the fastest songs from their back catalogue including Wrong Direction, Safari, Messiah and I Said I'm Sorry. After covering all the main songs that the crowd was begging for, they broke into an impromptu cover of My Girl by The Temptations for a verse and a chorus before flawlessly moving into We Don't Need Anyone from the album Controller. It was during this song that a couple of the girls in the crowd took the opportunity to jump on stage and dance along with the band before being swiftly removed by the band's guitar tech when one of them managed to knock a microphone out of its stand. The crowd sang along with all their might during I Can Make You Love Me before the band said their goodbyes.

After two seconds of "Encore!" being chanted by the rowdy crowd the band returned for their last few songs. However, British India were told that they only had two minutes left to play and launched into an energy-filled rendition of Killing In The Name complete with screams and lead singer Melia bounding across the stage, sending the night off with a bang.