Dark Captain play the Rose & Crown

Dark Captain played a stellar show to a packed Rose & Crown last night. The band, who were supported by Bella Echoes and Chad Mason, performed material from their first two albums and got a great reception. Some videos from the night are below.

Chad Mason

Chad Mason kicked off the show, and the room was already filling up. Although there were a few people sitting down when we got there, it soon became pretty much standing only. I’ve been to a couple of gigs at the Rose where they have put the seats out, but to me seated venues don’t really work for rock concerts (I can only think of the Union Chapel where it works well), so I was glad they were dispensed with. Anyway, Chad played four songs, one of which was on piano, and his brief set went down well.

Bella Echoes

Next up were Bella Echoes, a five-piece band who play what I’d describe as melodic indie. They opened with ‘Eye of the Storm’, which was quite good, as was their third song, ‘Eternity’. All five members of the band were seated during the performance and there was little interaction between the band members, and between the band and the crowd. To me I never felt the set really took off, the pace never picked up, but the room was packed by the time they finished and the crowd seemed appreciative. You can see one of their performances below.

Dark Captain

Dark Captain were a class apart. If memory serves, they opened with ‘Submarines’ and ‘Right Way Round’, two big songs off their most recent album ‘Dead Legs & Alibis’, which got the show off to a flying start. The band played material from both their albums, with some nice between-song chat from frontman Dan Carney. They finished with a storming version of ‘Jealous Enemies’ (the ‘hit’ from the first album) and ‘Mid-Session Interval’ (proper fans will know this as the bonus track on the Japanese version of first album ‘Miracle Kicker’). The band are now going to spend a few months writing material for their third album, but promised to be back on the live scene later in 2012.

Sign of a good night. Photo by @PamHutch

It was a really good night, and a refreshing change to see three strong bands performing in a Walthamstow venue. It cost a fiver to get in and to be honest, if I’d seen the same show at the Garage in Highbury for £12, I’d have thought it was value for money. All in all, a good Saturday night. Here are some videos of the show. Enjoy!