Motopia

Despite the early start time, local heroes Motopia performed a blistering set in front of a keen and animated audience that had clearly made the effort to get there early. A musical mix of early Banshees, Au Pairs, The Doors, and possibly even Television, Mairead leads from the front—singing and dancing to great effect as the boys provide a sonic vision that is both varied and dynamic.

There are moments that almost enter guitar-hero territory, but the mix and variation just work. This is as refreshing as it is authentic, as modern as it is retro. Infectious songs and good stagecraft are often hard to beat.

Mairead clearly has a genuine love of performing, and that is infectious. At times, she reminds me of Ari Up—a celebration of music and life, a vision of pure joy and exuberance. Proving it’s not what you do, it’s the way that you do it.

PAIGE KENNEDY

What a set!

Electronic wizardry and a Telecaster guitar merged to such magnificent effect. What more could you ever need?

This mesmerising artist is utterly captivating.

Prince-like guitar riffs layered over ’80s-inspired keyboard and drums that bring to mind Scritti Politti, Thomas Dolby, and Yello!

With an assured delivery of songs that explore the pitfalls and traps of everyday life. What Does Your Girlfriend Think and Lingerie Model are immediate highlights. The experience of buying lingerie in M&S is comically tragic, and the depiction of the mundane reminds me of Chris Difford’s lyrics—different, yes, but with a similar sense of the artist as the character relaying the story.

The dancing, the banter, the stage presence—Paige is a truly engaging artist, as funny and upbeat as they are serious and considered. At one point, they ask if anyone in the venue has a girlfriend and seem genuinely confused when the crowd appears to be entirely single. It was the day after Valentine’s—maybe that’s why, or maybe it just got lost in translation.

It’s with good reason that the NME 100 has highlighted Paige as one to watch in 2025.

The set was short—maybe only half an hour—but every minute was a highlight. For now, Paige’s music is available on the usual digital platforms, and you really should investigate it further. It is with utter certainty that more great things are to come. Watch this space.

SHE DREW THE GUN

Tonight marks the release of Louisa Roach’s, aka She Drew The Gun, fantastic new album, Howl.

Bittersweet, streetwise lyrics and melodies mingle with pulsating keyboards, soaring guitars, and a pounding rhythm section to create a musical landscape that overwhelms and engulfs a packed Room 2.

An incendiary and entrancing performer, Louisa has the ability to conjure incredible visions with words that trip effortlessly from her Merseyside tongue. So many words… so many considered words—it’s remarkable that they can be remembered so flawlessly and delivered to such great effect. Between songs, I’m at times reminded of John Cooper Clarke, both in content and delivery—deadpan-penned bullets to the heart and senses. Thought-provoking, intelligent, relevant.

The five-piece live band creates a perfect platform from which to launch an 18-song set that dips and dives in feel and sound. Zig-zagging between retro and at times analogue electronica, to hip-hop, to psyched-out and mutated lounge-lizard toe-tapping, reminiscent of Karen O, Sharon Van Etten, and maybe Annie Clark. It’s a sound that’s hard to pin down but easy to appreciate. More than anything, the lyrics are inventive and hard-hitting, reflecting on the challenges of everyday human existence—the political, the social, and the personal.

This is a smouldering performance that peaks with an incredible version of Something for the Pain, but it’s Panopticon, the final encore, that really is the cherry on the cake—somewhere between S’Express, Propaganda, and The Beloved. A blistering set of so many jewels.

She Drew The Gun are easy to love.

Words: Nick Tammer

Images: Chris Hogge