ENOLA GAY + THE STEALERS – THE PRINCE ALBERT, BRIGHTON 1.4.22
Belfast-based Irish noise rock/post-punk 4-piece Enola Gay featuring Fionn, Joe, Adam and Luke formed in late 2019. They produce socially aware venomous hip-hop-inspired vocals and offer up a bed of uncompromising reverb-soaked buzzsaw guitar and rumbly top ‘E’ note horror music bass, layered on top of a driving rhythm that draws as much inspiration from left-field electronica and techno as it does from post-punk heroes of the late 70s.
Thus far Enola Gay’s unique sound for the future has drawn widespread acclaim which has culminated with them being chosen to perform at Ireland Music Week, Eurosonic, and SXSW for their 6th, 7th and 8th performances ever!
Day zero for the Enola Gay onslaught began on 17th June 2020, when the band unleashed their debut tune ‘The Birth of a Nation (Lockdown Session)’. They had tied the banner to the mast! They even got it remixed in October 2020. Roll the clocks forward a year and they dropped their 4 song ‘Gransha’ EP, which features ‘Sofa Surfing’, ‘Scrappers’, ‘Salt’ and ‘Through Men’s Eyes’. Take a listen to these blistering tracks HERE.
Post lockdown and Enola Gay are most certainly out to spread their message far and wide as they are one of the acts that have been selected by The Great Escape for them to play live in Brighton this May – details HERE. This event has interest right across the globe and is a stepping stone for many new up-and-coming bands to show us what they’ve got.
This evening’s concert at The Prince Albert was totally sold out, which is no surprise as amongst the local Brighton gig goers, there is a real buzz with this outfit. Many have initially thought that they may have been an OMD tribute band due to their choice of band name, but once they have listened to the band’s output on Bandcamp, YouTube and the like, this misconception was rectified.
The atmosphere this evening was buzzing to say the least, especially after Brighton quartet The Stealers had set the tone for the night – more on them later……
Enola Gay’s intro tape commenced at 9.46pm and once the four Irishmen had graced the stage, plugged in and readied themselves, they began their joyous onslaught at 9:50pm. An onslaught that ran for an impressive 57 minutes until 10:47pm, with just one surprising enforced interlude. Carry on reading to find out what happened……
We were given a whole dozen compositions this evening and the longer their set went on for, the more intense the crowd became. Unusually the lighting on stage this evening remained on green all night, instead of the burn-out red. Maybe this was to reflect that they were coming at us from the Emerald Isle or possibly it was to mimic the shade of spring green (shamrock green) found on the Irish flag? But I must ‘flag’ up that these lads hail from north of the border in Belfast, home of Stiff Little Fingers as opposed to Thumper from Dublin and The Undertones from Derry. I must also flag up that my own encounters with all four of these Irish bands begins with them asking my name and shaking my hand and saying “pleased to meet you!”. It’s the Irish charm, whether it’s North or South of the border! Hypothetically speaking, if back in the day the police were to somehow find Enola Gay parked in their tourmobile near a church in the early hours of the morning, the rozzers would wrongly assume that the band were intent on stealing the lead off of the roof. But the only thing they are stealing tonight is the crowd’s hearts!
For the duration of the Enola Gay performance I was stationed at the front immediately in front of Adam Cooper’s rumbly Fender Jazz bass on stage left (our right) and oh what a joy it was! That top ‘E’ note was rarely strayed from all night. I couldn’t even hear Joe McVeigh’s guitarwork on the opposite side of the stage. I could obviously hear Luke Beirne’s drums being pounded and on that note, I can reveal that he did actually get a tad over enthusiastic and physically broke his snare drum midway through the set. I haven’t witnessed that for many a year. You can always rely on jovial regular Brighton concert attendee “Two Pints Jules” (one in each hand) to come up with a witty quip and tonight was no exception. His utterance to the band being “How much do you love The Stealers now?” after they had earlier on thanked them for their great support slot. The crowd laughed and Noah from The Stealers came to the rescue by loaning the lads his snare, which was dutifully incorporated to the drumset. Luke didn’t break the Roland drumpads.
Frontman Fionn Reilly was really giving it his all this evening and adding his definition to the word ‘sweatshirt’. He was drenching it as he delivered his shouty talky lines of text, which was beautifully accompanied by a wall of noise which hit us in the chests for the whole of their consistent set. This barrage of sound was a glorious amalgam of impressive exploding bass, crashing drums, guitar whirr and Jaz Coleman (Killing Joke) all out vocal delivery and formed a heavy indie/Nu-Metal vibe with a funky edge, with some of the numbers taking a dive into heavy Rap in vocal style and sound.
Part way through their set, guitarist Joe (sporting a DITZ t-shirt….good man!) abandoned his instrument and flew into the crowd and kicked off the mosh pit which remained in one form or another for a majority of the remaining set. I assure you that Enola Gay are hot property at the moment and at least two of the ever-present Brighton gig faithful claiming that tonight was their gig of the year so far! Was tonight one of those “I was there” moments?. You have been warned, get on board now if you are a fan of the likes of IDLES, Fontaines DC, DITZ, VLURE and others of that ilk.
Enola Gay are:
Fionn Reilly – vocals
Joe McVeigh – guitar
Adam Cooper – bass
Luke Beirne – drums
Enola Gay setlist:
‘Salt’ (from 2021 ‘Gransha’ EP)
‘Sofa Surfing’ (from 2021 ‘Gransha’ EP)
‘Naked Names’ (unreleased)
‘Headphones’ (unreleased)
‘Figures’ (unreleased)
‘Scrappers’ (from 2021 ‘Gransha’ EP)
‘P. T. S. D. U. P’ (unreleased)
‘Cold’ (unreleased)
‘The Birth Of A Nation’ (from ‘The Birth Of A Nation’ single)
‘Knives Out’ (unreleased)
‘Through Men’s Eyes’ (from 2021 ‘Gransha’ EP)
‘For God & For Ulster’ (unreleased)
Check out Enola Gay’s YouTube channel HERE and find out more about them on Instagram or better still, visit their ‘linktree’ HERE.
Support this evening came in the form of Brighton based outfit The Stealers, who have been going for three years, but just a year with the current lineup. Surprisingly tonight is our very first encounter with this young quartet, but I can most certainly state that it won’t be our last!
The young men graced The Prince Albert stage this evening as though they owned it….and why not? Tonight was a sold out gig and it was rather encouraging to note that most of the mixed aged punters had arrived early to see what these young ‘uns were going to offer us. Thus the venue was almost packed out for The Stealers seven tune, 30 minute set, which commenced at 8:32pm to 9:02pm.
They opened up with ‘Night From Hell’ from their ‘Pretty Killer’ three track single which dropped in 2020. The punters took note of this tune and those that had wondered who an earth these young upstarts are prior to them playing a single note, were silenced. It sounded rather promising and indeed as the lads worked their way through their set, the crowd got more and more into them, so much so that by the end of their performance they were applauded as though they were the main act! They had some merch for sale at the back of the room as enthusiastic drummer Noah kindly pointed out, and they shifted quite a number of t-shirts and posters. I know this for a fact as several of my gig buddies lightened their pockets!
The Stealers sound is probably best described as a modern take on indie punkish sounds akin to the bastard son of SNAYX meets IDLES. Frontman Alex ably spurts into the mic, whilst Noah attacked his drumset, which he didn’t break! Guitarist George gave us some decent licks and bassist Junior held it all together. This band looks young and they certainly have the energy and drive to go further!
They played a couple of unreleased numbers, with the second of which is still unnamed, but the subject matter is gambling. Prior to performing this tune, Noah vacated his drums and ventured out into the crowd with a mic and asked several punters what it should be called. This was most amusing and he was given several decent on-the-spot answers too. For my pennies worth, how about ‘Gambling Destroys Lives’?
They closed their set with ‘Ultra Violent’, which is their latest single. It’s encouraging to hear that the lads will be heading back into the studio next month in order to record a 4 track EP. They will also be back here at The Prince Albert on 16th May as headliners, so look out for tickets for that night. It’s a strong possibility that they may also be turning up somewhere in Brighton as part of The Alternative Escape festival also in May.
For me, the by far standout track of theirs this evening was the other unreleased composition, ‘Crying Shame’. Surely the lads will be recording this on their forthcoming 4 track EP as the lead track! It would be rude not to!
The Stealers are:
Alex Roberts Anderson – vox and Fender guitar
George Hart Gibson – lead guitar
Junior Vieira Dawes – Squier bass
Noah Longhirst – drums
The Stealers setlist:
‘Night From Hell’ (from 2020 ‘Pretty Killer’ single)
‘Scream’ (from 2021 ‘Scream’ single)
‘Chivalry’ (from 2021 ‘Chivalry’ single)
‘Linger’ (from 2020 ‘Pretty Killer’ single)
‘Crying Shame’ (unreleased)
“New One” (as yet untitled and unreleased)
‘Ultra Violent’ (from 2022 ‘Ultra Violent’ single)
Check out The Stealers by visiting their ‘linktree’ HERE.
