Marmozets, Near Moments.

Lev 2 Bedford Esquires. Wednesday 20th August 2014.

For thousands of teenagers tomorrow is a very important day as they will learn what grades they have got in their GCSE exams. To ease their nerves, The Pad Presents have landed themselves a Reading and Leeds warm up show starring Marmozets. Siblings within bands has always been a rather contentious issue and the Jarmans in the Cribs or the Gallagher rivalry of Oasis spring to mind. However, Marmozets have potential double trouble. The band is made up of the MacIntyres, namely vocalist Becca, guitarist Sam and drummer Josh. Allied to this they have the Bottomley brothers with guitarist Jack and bassist Will. It's quite a unique arrangement.

Unbelievably, given their tender years, they have been an active band for seven years. Hailing from Bingley, Yorkshire, they recently signed to the Roadrunner record label and will release debut album "The weird and wonderful" at the end of September. With the festivals on the horizon, Marmozets are definitely hitting the big time as the Esquires car park is full of giant coach. They have also brought their own sound engineer to tweak the knobs. It was a little disconcerting to watch them tune up before going on, this is a warm up in every sense of the word. Exactly a year ago we had local faves Don Broco here flexing their pre-festival muscles and the room was rammed. Given the exposure that Marmozets have received in the music press, especially Kerrang!, we thought that there would be a similar turnout tonight. It isn't, but there are enough in attendance to give it a good atmosphere and there are even a few mums and dads keeping an eye on the younger gig goers.

A loud roar goes up as Marmozets appear on stage and naturally all eyes are trained on Becca. She is petite and has a huge shock of long auburn hair. She also possesses a mighty fine set of lungs. They begin with the dynamic "Particles". Becca screams like a petulant child demanding immediate attention over the noise of a parental lawnmower. This quintet offer some heavy math rock mayhem with a sharp punky spirit. A mini mosh pit assembles for "Why do you hate me". The brother are just as frenetic, especially Josh who doesn't just ferociously larrup his drums, he frequently stands on them too! Becca works the crowd superbly and continually gestures with arms and hands. She tells us that they are "really excited" about the imminent release of their album. "We've been working f**king hard" she adds.

Sensing that Bedford seems to be a friendly crowd, Becca asks us "Is it alright if we do you folks a new one?". The older stuff gives way to the new album tracks. She reckons that the reason that they play their newer stuff is because they "are so excited about them". "Captivate you" has a slow build up before it fully explodes. Some female performers are inhibited, not so Becca Mac. This is a woman who barks violently whenever her brother brings the sticks down. She prowls the stage with a vicious snarl, bares her teeth and rips out a primal scream. You can see why she once dislocated her knee on stage. Marmozets especially pour a lot of effort into "Move shake hide". It was the first song they released since the major label signing. For this Josh moves his kit to the mosh pit area and plays from the floor. Some people may think that this is a unique event at Esquires, but for those here for last year's Pure Love gig will think that Marmozets effort was a whole lot tamer with no circle dance. The band left us with a few good memories.

Alternative rock quartet Near Moments have always been one of my favourite local bands, ever since their very early shows for BAM. This is a perfect support slot and possibly their most prestigious to date. Because of bigger band preferences, Joel Waters' drum kit almost lines up with his colleagues at the front of the stage. Fair haired front lady Adi exudes so much confidence and is infectiously chipper. Later on in the set she even dedicates a song to her mother, in attendance this evening. She encourages everyone to move forward in her own special way as she says "I can feel your love, but it's very far away though"! She enquires "if anyone is going to Reading tomorrow?"..A pitiful response except for a raised arm at the back of the room. Songs are the creative life force of any band and Near Moments score highly in this department, such as "Princess Daffodil" and "Drunken mistake". Coincidentally, we are told the latter was written "after a very drunken night". They tantalisingly twist in so many tangents, especially when the multi-talented Adi utilises her violin skills. They really do add a super slick pop kick. Her ability to scream like no woman on earth one minute and sound like an angel the next is jaw-dropping. A lovely set and I was very pleased for them.

Marmozets set list:-

Particle, Why do you hate me, Is it horrible, Born young and free, Captivate you, Hit the wave, Weird and wonderful, Move shake hide.