Live Review: Otherkin at The Workman's Club

There's something about a ruby red coloured venue that just works. It works because it darkens the room and draws the eyes to the stage even before there's a band on it. The Workman's Club is a perfect example of this colour scheme. And a ruby red room at midnight? Brilliant. And a ruby red room pierced by royal blue stage lights? Even more brilliant. The air itself almost turned purple.
At 1am sharp the sound of sirens pierced the general chatter and house speakers. No fire drills or police banging on the doors just Otherkin warning us of their impending arrival. Drummer Rob Summons takes to the stage and the first of many high decibel screams ring out from the audience. After taking his throne for the evening he kicks with an uptempo beat on the rims of the rims and snare. The simplest of beats can make any audience sit up and pay attention before the rest of the band emerge from the staircase leading up from the greenroom to the stage. A massive scream from the crowd, a quick tune of their musical weapons and after a count of four from the stickman they burst in to their first song '20 to 11'.
Within seconds frontman Luke Reilly was standing atop the booming bass drum. The energy and passion from the band was immediately apparent. These guys know what they're doing and they know they're doing it right. This is no showcase of the ordinary pop rock. Here's the same core sound with added layers of heavy playing turning the dial up to grunge levels.
"Are we feelin' it Workman's?!", bellowed Reilly just before the solo of the song of 'Feel It'. At just two songs in the crowd were loving it. The venue was packed to the brim as the ones lucky enough to be at the front struggled to keep their place when the moshing began. Before the next song Reilly tore his shirt off for 'Love's A Liability'. Coming in fast and hard it was one of the standout performances of the night. The overall set was perfectly polished without a moment's hesitation from any band member anywhere to be seen. They serve as a steadfast testament to their own hard work.
One thing that did go against them was the sound of the venue. Workman's is an incredibly fun and one of the most well loved venues in Dublin. But the small box of a stage can be deafening at the best of times and if a tight hold isn't kept on the mixing desk any gig can quickly turn in to a muddy cacophony. Some very noticeable feedback issues didn't do much to quell the screeching beginning of the single 'I Was Born'. The feedback was notable but nothing that would ruin a gig by any means but definitely enough to make the ear drums in the room ring. Everyone loves a good hight pitched guitar solo but there's a very fine line between that and going deaf for no reason.
"Lose your shit", commanded Reilly and I think they're still looking for it be honest. Now free of his guitar he leapt forth in to the crowd for the climax of what was possibly the best received song on the night. By the time the pop grunge rockers were ready to play their latest single 'Yeah I Know' the crowd were showing no signs of slowing down. Not for one second did anyone take their eyes off the four men dressed in black. Reilly was once again free of his guitar so he decided to do a little surfing.

Diving out from the stage the crowd held him aloft well above their head height. Almost flat against the ceiling he grabbed the mic in one hand and swung from the grill of the air conditioning with the other. Let's spare a moment here to thank the sound guy beside the stage who quickly ran up to unravel the mic lead before it was pulled from its input channel in the nick of time.
The end of the crowd surfing brought an end to that song with the drummer keeping a steady four on the floor. The crowd clapped and stamped in time until Reilly began a call and answer chant with them. The chorus line of 'Ay Ay' was perfect for the job. The night drew on and set drew to its close. Otherkin had performed solidly up until their last track but for this one they decided to recruit so help.
Reilly called the audience at the front up on to the stage itself for the climax of the gig. With about two or three dozen people on the stage they had one hell of a backing band. Just as quickly as the gig began it ended again. The last song came to a big finish with cymbals exploding like fireworks and just the perfect amount of guitar torturing. A quick thank you and goodnight and Otherkin left the stage.
This a group of young guys who have grown exponentially since their formation in 2013. Their grungy elements combined the familiar hooks and straightforward lyrics and songwriting of pop punk is a combination strong enough to take over the world. Let's hope thats exactly what they achieve.