Live Review: Camp Cope, Harmony, Two Steps On The Water

19 December 2016 | 1:02 pm | Tim Kroenert

"Maq rips the heart and soul out of the epic West Side Story."

More Camp Cope More Camp Cope

June Jones may be feeling under the weather - gulping water from a jug and bemoaning, "Last night I spat in a bag" — but she is still utterly arresting. Two Steps On The Water's theatrical prog-folk brings us to rapt silence. This is the third time this year we've seen a support slot from the captivating trio and again we make a mental note to catch a headline show they're performing sometime soon.

Harmony, the latest project from The Nation Blue's Tom Lyngcoln, doesn't always seem to be more than the sum of its parts; the band's collision of alt-rock with gospel and blues can sound, well, like a collision. But when it does all click, it's inspired: Lyngcoln's snarl and bravura guitar work balanced by the trio of female backing singers and excellent rhythm section.

This sold-out show caps off a big year of touring for Camp Cope, following the release of their self-titled debut LP. Yet when Georgia Maq thanks us all for coming, she laughs and covers her mouth with both hands - she still seems genuinely surprised that people want to give up their time and money to come and hear her band's songs. She needn't be — she's a born performer and a hell of a songwriter and from the opening salvo of Done and Jet Fuel Can't Melt Steel Beams, we're sold.

Maq's frank, finely observed lyrics and soul-shredding vocals are Camp Cope's linchpin, but bassist Kelly-Dawn Hellmrich steps up with a big fuzzy intro to a new song — a feminist anthem to unruly pubic hair — underlining how much she and drummer Sarah Thompson contribute to shaping the band's distinctive sound. As the song ends, there's a moment of confusion, as Maq checks her phone for a message "from a friend"; turns out it's a reminder to plug June Jones's crowdfunding campaign for facial feminisation surgery. She does so, then apologises if she seems scatty: "I've been looking at too many memes lately and my mind has gone to mush." Back on track, she dedicates Flesh And Electricity to underpaid nurses; it rocks.

Don't miss a beat with our FREE daily newsletter

Maq rips the heart and soul out of the epic West Side Story, its story of western suburban angst as definitively Camp Cope as it gets; the crowd singing along to the line, "But yours is a funeral I'd fly to from anywhere," is spine-tingling stuff. Maq then lightens the mood and gets a few eye-rolling laughs from her bandmates as she busts out the opening chords to Wonderwall by Oasis, then gets serious, introducing Trepidation, a song railing against feeling unsafe in public spaces, "Something people who are not white men experience." Camp Cope close with Stove Lighter and the anthem Lost: Season One, and leave us wanting more.