Music Critic Louisa Pickard reviews Five O Five’s EP release show, calling it ‘euphoric and hugely successful’
Last Friday night it seemed the rain could not stop fans from across the UK piling into the intimate Muthers Studio venue. The occasion? To celebrate the long-awaited EP launch of Birmingham born Five O Fives. Formed just before the pandemic, the alt-rock band have evolved to become a genre splicing four-piece that remain a regional favourite. Their EP ‘Am I On My Own’, available to stream on Spotify, has been teased across their social media platforms for the past few months and finally saw its release the night before its debut performance. As such, I came to the gig with a general familiarity of the songs but was eager to see how the tracks would translate into live performance – it is safe to say they did not disappoint.
Formed just before the pandemic, the alt-rock band have evolved to become a genre splicing four-piece that remain a regional favourite
After engaging support sets from Ace Ambrose and Jack Cattell, the band exploded onto the stage with their lead single ‘Keep Your Secrets Close’. Filled with characteristic licks from their talented lead guitarist, Andreas Mouzourides, it would of course be their charismatic vocalist Alice Bloor who stole the show from the start, falling to her knees and whispering intimately into the microphone during the climactic bridge.
From this opening number the band instantly segued into their next track ‘Fool’, another punchy number from their EP. Not the tentative performance of previous shows, the Five O Fives left no doubts that this was their headline gig, dominating the room with such slick transitions. Having recently invested in an in-ear monitoring system, they were clearly well rehearsed and had taken time to push the show to a new professional standard.
Between numbers, Bloor took moments to showcase her band members as well as thank the audience whose eclectic demographic varied from family to friends, colleagues to strangers. A vocal crowd, there were moments of interaction and particular pleasure in hearing the band move to some of their older numbers such as the popular ‘Had To Do It’. A few of the slightly slower paced tracks that followed saw moments of unease during exposed vocal passages however they were consistently delivered with the contagious energy and intimate dynamic that the four-piece share.
…it would of course be their charismatic vocalist Alice Bloor who stole the show from the start
They then moved to play two new singles the first of which, named ‘Spare Change’, I particularly enjoyed. It was packed with original lyrical moments and playful melody lines, as well as their signature punchy basslines and heavy drumming by Nico Pickard and Joel Faulkner, respectively. The second was the similarly catchy ‘Hypnotise’, although it was unfortunately interrupted by technical problems for Bloor. However, the band’s professional response demonstrated their closeness as a group of four friends as well as talented artists under pressure, supporting Bloor and switching mics without missing a beat.
Finishing with their first ever single, ‘Through The Darkness’, the crowd were not quite satisfied and, after a little persuasion, the Five O Fives returned for a greatly demanded encore. Boldly choosing to re-perform ‘Hypnotised’ this offered a great comeback moment that showcased the previously sacrificed backing harmonies of the bassist. It proved a euphoric finish to a hugely successful show for the band and surely marked the beginning of many more releases and headline shows to come.
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