4 STARS ****
Standing in the crowd at the intimate Bodega venue as we wait for Tom Vek, I must admit that I had not previously come into much contact with his music. A snippet of a song here or there, a brief preview of his latest single, but other than that I had little idea of what to expect from Tom Vek’s brand of indie rock.
Immediately diving in with a new song ‘How Am I Meant To Know’ from his recently released album ‘Luck’, Tom warms up the crowd with this fairly low tempo tune that builds slowly with a sense of anger and frustration with it that leaves us as the audience tensed for more. The set continues to be fairly heavy with material from the new album, which as a Vek virgin I found refreshing, as myself and the rest of the crowd were introduced to the new tunes together. The constant heavy beats and the slightly punkish vibe soon had me head bobbing with the rest and a few great stand out songs made the set (check out the album!) especially the finale of the single ‘ Sherman (Animals In the Jungle)’ which ended the night on a high with the fans calling for more.
At times, I have to admit I found myself drifting. Repetitive beats and lyrics often made some of the lesser songs dull and interchangeable with others and while the great songs made the gig memorable, there were also a few times where I’m sorry to say I ended up completely blanking. However some of the favourites from the older albums got myself and the rest of the crowd revved up again, (definitely check out Aroused) and overall created a chilled but electric atmosphere in the intimate Bodega venue.
Apart from a few unfortunate technical malfunctions which Tom very sweetly apologised for, the gig ran without a hitch and ensured that I will certainly keep an eye out for any good Tom Vek singles in the future!
Edited by Harriet Dunlea.
Image source:
http://consequenceofsound.files.wordpress.com/2014/04/tom-veck-luck-art-600.jpg?w=800