Formed a decade ago in Reading, The Amazons – the trio of Matt Thomson (vocals, guitar), Chris Alderton (guitar) and Elliot Briggs (bass) – have been on an upward curve since releasing their debut album in 2017. From small venues in Camden to headlining the wonderful Somerset House as part of their annual Summer Series. The building surrounds you, keeping the sound in the space despite being an open air concert which makes a 2-3,000 capacity concert feel intimate. A great backdrop to an evening of high-voltage rock.
The Amazons @ Summer Series at Somerset House
The Amazons’ self-titled first album was the highest charting rock debut album since Royal Blood. I caught the last song and a half of their Friday mid-afternoon set at Reading Festival that same year and although disappointed I had missed the majority of their short set, I knew that it wouldn’t be the last time I would see them. Their two subsequent albums have reached the top 10 and last year they played Reading’s main stage for the first time, having played almost every other stage on their rise to get there!
Opening the night at 8 o’clock sharp were Brighton rockers Yonaka. After four attempts at playing Greedy, a backing track mishap made it impossible to continue so they swiftly moved on to another from their first album, Punch Bag. Introducing 2024 single Predator, frontwoman Theresa Jarvis shares: “Usually this is when we start a mosh pit” which garners a murmur of laughter given the location and the stone floor, however, some of the younger members of the crowd gave it a good go. Jarvis dedicates Call Me A Saint to anyone who’s going through a hard time because “life is pretty fucking hard.” The Fever 333 collaboration Clique from second album Seize The Power is aired before they close with their most streamed song; the title track from the same record. Despite being in the support slot, Yonaka gave a phenomenal high energy performance and it won’t be too long before they’ll be playing these size stages in their own right.
The Amazons took to the stage dead on 9pm and with no time to waste and no introductions, dove straight into riff-heavy Ready For Something from their latest album, 2022’s How Will I Know If Heaven Will Find Me? Balancing riffs and singalong hooks, the Reading-hailing quartet are a throwback to a bygone era. Whilst rock music doesn’t dominate the airwaves like it once did, there’s no denying that live is where it’s at it’s exhilarating best. Stay With Me and Junk Food Forever get the crowd in fantastic voice.
Founding member and drummer, Joe Emmett left the band in 2022 after the release of their third album. But Guernsey born George Le Page has taken up drumming duties on tour since last year and adorned with a leather jacket (that doesn’t stay on too long) looks and sounds the part, playing with an intensity that drives them on. Frontman Matt Thomson, sporting a black waistcoat over a black tank top, is confident. He’s able to command the stage and the masses at will.
Night After Night, a song they debuted on their tour last year slots seemingly into their set, with addition of an extra rhythm guitarist. Thomson introduces her to the crowd, she’s from Buenos Aires to which the frontman asks “what winning feels like,” referencing Argentina’s win in the Copa America and well, England’s near miss at the Euros this month. “Muy Bien” she softly replies. Luckily that dig at our sporting incompetencies didn’t dampen the spirits of tonight’s audience as the sun dipped below the London skyline and quarter life crisis anthem of 25 continued to maintain the high octane rock we were all here to eat up. And eat up, we most certainly did.
Today also happened to be guitarist Chris Alderton’s 30th birthday so we all sung happy birthday to the slightly embarrassed guitarist. “You guys are really loud” he said, dressed in an open white dress shirt over a white vest. “I was born just around the corner from here so this is special.”
The band feel more self-assured than ever before. Mastering their craft of playing live, touring every year bar 2021 since 2015. They play with a confidence, a swagger. They’ve amassed quite the loyal following too. A significant amount of t-shirts of previous tours were on display whilst a significant portion of the spectators knew most of the words of every song. There was a wide range of ages of people, with many parents bringing their children to what may well have been their first taste of live music, which must have been thrilling.
One By One from How Will I Know If Heaven Will Find Me? see’s Thomson swap his electric guitar for a mandolin and Alderton from an electric to an acoustic in a song that reminded me of an early Led Zeppelin track. The more acoustic, melodic first half of the song with slightly English-folk lyrical themes perhaps. The song built up to a fantastic crescendo where the crew replaced both their instruments mid-song to electric guitars to crunch home the tune. The Zeppelin throwback was made even more pleasing when during the 2019 track Doubt It they segued into a verse of In My Time of Dying, the most famous version of which appears on Led Zeppelin’s 1975 LP Physical Graffiti. A great nod to The Amazons’ classic rock influences. The Hotel California style intro to Georgia, the closer from their second album Future Dust, also sounds familiar and comforting.
There’s a brief pause (of course) before the troupe return to the stage to perform Wake Me Up and they finish with Mother and Black Magic, two songs with incredibly strong and catchy riffs. 90 minutes into their set, the energy of the audience never wavered, their voices never weakening. It may not have been as raucous an atmosphere as previous gigs but I’m not sure I’ve seen them play better.
The band leave the crowd wanting more, retiring from the stage after teasing that they have a new record that is going to come out next year, with the first single dropping in September, so be sure to look out for that. Rockshot Magazine have been following the upward trajectory of The Amazons from those early days, catching them at Dingwalls back in 2017. So seeing them headline the famous Summer Series at Somerset House is a joy and a journey that has not done ascending yet. Check out photos from their show at Dingwalls in 2017 below:
Live review of The Amazons at Summer Series At Somerset House 2024, London by Chris Lambert on 16th July 2024. Photography by Simon Reed.
Pip Millett Is Enough For You At Summer Series At Somerset House 2024
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