Live review: Dry Cleaning deliver enchanting post-punk goodness in Whelan’s upstairs stage

There are some bands, especially in the rock scene, that you can only get a true picture of once you have seen them live.

It usually comes down to the group’s energy on stage and their capacity to charm an audience rather than sound alone. That is exactly the case for Dry Cleaning: although there is no denying that their studio recorded tracks are excellent, Florence Shaw’s stream-of-consciousness voice mixing spellbindingly with their punky, hard-hitting instrumentals, seeing them play live in Whelan’s feels like an ‘oh, I really get it now,’ moment.

To our greatest pleasure, the headbanging starts early.

Opening their set with the short and blunt ‘Jam After School’, immediately followed by ‘New Job’, Lewis Maynard (bass), Tom Dowse (guitar) and Nick Buxton (drums) deliver highly animated performances.

Dry Cleaning @ Whelan’s. pic.twitter.com/vQpxcEwO9Z

— Shambles (@sewalsh) April 10, 2024

From the get-go, it's impossible not to notice Shaw’s entrancing performance, despite how low-key she might seem compared to her bandmates. You could say it is thanks to her deep, whispery voice that sits right at the edge between spoken word and actual singing, the notes vibrating through your ribcage with each new breath - but that would be reductive of her actual act. There is something downright religious in the way she presents herself, eyes fixed above the crowd as if looking to the sky, her movements minimal yet captivating.

‘Traditional Fish,’ a slower track that feels like walking through an empty town at 2 in the morning, sends the audience into a trance-like state, with fans looking up to the stage at Shaw like she was an ancient Greek oracle. And she sort of looks like one too, with long, pin-straight hair falling down her shoulders, her dreamy gaze unfaltering. During the incredibly unique ‘Conversation’, she grimaces as she catches various audience members’ eyes.

It's delightful to see a band so clearly enjoying every note they play - it's contagious, thanks to Maynard’s heavy bass, Dowse’s energetic guitar riffs and Buxton's invigorating beats. Their energy is palpable on tracks like ‘Viking Hair’ - an enthusiasm that is, sadly, not always matched by the audience.

The encore turns out to be a huge extension of the actual show, given that Dry Cleaning still has seven songs in the bag, their energy never fluttering throughout this over two hours long set. Finishing off with the fun, light and almost summery track ‘Gary Ashby’, the band leaves the crowd to feel a little bewitched and definitely eager for more.