Words: Sarah Milligan
Hidden beneath Edinburgh’s murky Cowgate lies Cabaret Voltaire, a 230-max capacity venue that may or may not still be standing after the deafening performance delivered by 4-piece indie rock group October Drift last night.
When they took the stage, frontman Kiran Roy declared: “Edinburgh, for the next hour and a half, nothing exists beyond this room – there’s just you, and there’s just us, and we’re in this together, alright?”
He was completely and utterly right.
From the enticing ¾ time opener ‘Waltzer’, one of their older tracks, followed by their newest (‘Blame The Young’), October Drift transcended Cabaret Volatire, with their amps turned to such a height you had to wonder how the stone ceiling hadn’t caved in. The setlist itself was a work of art; there wasn’t a moment you’d want to miss– and even the “quiet” moments were never truly quiet. There’s always a thrumming guitar waiting to bounce back, or the screech of an amp to signal another incoming chorus.
Halfway through, after a heavily Nirvana-inspired performance of ‘insects’, Roy makes his way into, weaving a path with his wired microphone and unblinking eyes as he sings– keeping a rapt audience under his spell. It’s not the first time, nor the last time Roy will pay visit to the audience Just two songs later, during ‘Cherry Red, he stage-dives and proceeds to crowdsurf for the duration of the track. Lead guitarist Dan Young also makes several ventures into the crowd; in one standout moment, he manages to create a mosh pit the width of an entire room while staying perfectly in tune throughout ‘Airborne Panic Attack’ (as mental as that may sound).
They end the show in a surprising way – leaving behind the flashing lights, electrics and grunge chord progressions in favor of an unfiltered, raw performance of one of their earliest singles, ‘Like the Snow We Fall’. Just frontman Kiran Roy and drummer Chris Holmes standing dead centre of the crowd, armed only with an unplugged guitar and a tambourine. Beautiful.
Before October Drift’s performance, Thurso-based band Forgetting The Future (FTF) got the crowd warmed up with lashings of sweat and powerful melodies from lead singer Robbie McNicol. With a sound reminiscent of New Order combined with Catfish and the Bottlemen FTF are definitely a band to watch out for– and guitarist Jamie Mackay’s unbelievable ability to shred will get the band very far in life, I would think.
Though Cabaret Voltaire may be small, it truly captured the enigmatic energy of October Drift; their combination of introspective lyricism and other-worldly indie rock instrumentals has created something truly incredible – a simply effortless sound driven by intangible quality.
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