Our Girl are probably my favourite band around at the moment, their debut album "Stranger Today" is one of very few to ever receive a 10/10 from us which I think it fully deserves and it's been in constant rotation for me ever since. The dynamics on the album which perfectly utilise lead singer and guitarist, Soph Nathan's soft, harmonic vocals but also give her the opportunity to really stretch herself into a grungier, heavy rock voice which expertly intertwine with the phenomenal tunes like "Level", "Being Around" and "Boring".
The band announced on Twitter the day before the gig that they were doing a free instore show at Paul Smith in The Mailbox so obviously I had to go along to that... which also meant missing one of my lectures but hey, what's more important here? The band set up along some chairs in the shop and played an acoustic set containing songs like "I Really Like It", "Two Life" and "In My Head" all of which were so perfect acoustically I honestly could have stood there all day and listened to them, and Paul Smith were giving out free beer as well so that made it even better. And the band were kind enough to sign a few records for me as well so that just rounded off an amazing afternoon.
Then it was over to the Sunflower Lounge for the main event, and it was packed to the rafters. Which makes me so happy to see a band I've been following for such a long time to finally gain some of the recognition that they deserve for being one of the best guitar bands in the country right now. Jheeeeeze what a show as well. "Two Life" is my favourite Our Girl song so it's always nice to see that and bask in it's heaviness as Lauren (Drummer) throws her head around so much from behind the drum kit that I'm surprised she hasn't caused herself some sort of damage so far!
And despite one kn*bhead asking for Big Moon songs, it didn't dampen the mood of the people all around me as they were jumping and dancing along to every song - there was just a very good vibe in the crowd and I think that resonated on stage as it appeared that Soph couldn't stop smiling throughout the entire performance and Josh (Bassist) looked to be having a great time on stage - it's so important to go out and support bands such as Our Girl to keep the music scene and independent venues alive - it also helps when you're watching the best band around.