19th April 2018

Live Review: Veridian & Origami Heart @ The Purple Turtle, Reading 18/04/2018!

It maybe a smaller venue, but The Purple Turtle bar in Reading can certainly pack them in and tonight’s free show as part of the BBC’s “Introducing” campaign is no different. By the end of the set from Farnborough Alt-Rocker’s Origami Heart, the place has turned into a sweatbox. In a short but sweet set the band play through their older material it soon becomes obvious that 2017’s EP “Jester Amongst Fools” is a step up for them. The recently re-tooled line-up have a fairly tight setup, even if the stage is a little crowded for a 5 piece [7/10].

Origami Heart’s EP “Jester Amongst Fools” is available over at iTunes

Reading is a home town show for Veridian and despite frontman Simon Jackson not being at the height of his vocal powers, he’s more than ably helped out by bassist Jonny Slevin and at points guitarist Robbie Everett. The trio’s combining voices complement each other well and it adds an extra quality to the bands material. While James Marshall Stack’s keyboards at times struggle to get over Zak Watson’s drums with the venue’s muddy sound, his showmanship is second to none and he’s an entertaining watch in himself. Frontman Jackson regularly invites the crowd to participate in waves and hand claps and the audience lap it up, as you would hope for at a home town show. Set highlights include “Ink” and “Headlights”, which has the band blinding the audience members with flash bar laps mid-song. It’s obvious that the band love playing live, they have that extra something that the best live bands do in that arena, be it more energy, verve or spirit, feeding off the audience and by the time set closer “Running Away” arrives, we want more. What we get is pair of false endings and a couple of tasty mid-range breakdowns. [8/10]