A band I’d seen a few times as the supporting act finally stepped out on their own to wonderful results.

Date: October 9, 2015

Venue: Bodega

London quartet Gengahr’s ascent has been steady but sure. Their rise from a hardworking support band to one of the UK’s must-see, must-hear bands is totally deserved.

The Bodega is a near sell-out with new fans eager to hear the dizzying falsettos and blissed-out psych-rock of their recent debut album, A Dream Outside, on the live stage on their own headline tour.

Their set ranges from dramatic to subtle. Dramatic are the guitar squalls and their inherent rock, to lead man Felix Bushe’s subtle and spine-tingling falsetto. It’s quite something.

There are clear influences in their music. Tame Impala are evident on Bathed In Light as it takes their Feels Like We Only Go Backwards and drenches it in psychedelic sweetness, while single Powder is a refinement of early Blur with a blend of Wild Beasts draped over it.

As the Bodega’s lights come on, fans holler “She’s A Witch”, a firm crowd favourite yet to be heard. Then the lights dim and they shuffle back on and ease into As Lonely As A Shark before the crowd get what they want with the woozy She’s A Witch. It’s clearly influenced by MGMT and it sounds stunning, with the crowd singing its chorus (“Maybe she sinks/Maybe she flies/I’ve got a witch that cries all the time”) back to the band.

There are a lot of influences bouncing off each other. But Gengahr don’t simply Xerox bands’ blueprints. Instead they subtly re-wire them, mix them around a bit and make them their own.