Bodega, Yes Pink Room. 23rd July 2025

We’re in the summer lull for indoor gigs when festivals take over, so it feels like a while since I’ve been crammed in a room with a load of people watching a band. Truthfilly it’s only been a few weeks, but it seems longer. Tonight’s welcome fix comes courtesy of Bodega (possibly Nodega) in Yes’ Pink Room. It’s sold out and encouraging to see them slowly increase the venue size with each visit to the city. “Let’s start this shit off right” declares Ben before the riff of ‘Paranoid’ tears out the speakers. They bang out a pretty decent and faithful rendition of the Sabbath classic. I’m sure a lot of bands are paying tribute this week, such was the massive sphere of influence Sabbath created, but Bodega really do set a high bar with this. The riff for their own ‘ATM’ isn’t quite on the same level, but it’s still heavy and chugs reassuringly as they get warmed up. They seem heavier to my ears tonight, Ben screaming ‘Everybody’s Sad’ as the tight angular art rock builds and makes way for the punk pace of ‘Guess What’. The pace is pretty full on. I like it. They’ve always bursted with energy, but this full on assault approach suits them. I teased the Nodega thing earlier, this appears to be an alter ego under which they’ve recently released ‘Rot in Helvetica’ which isn’t just a great title but a great song too. It hints at a more aggressive future, packed with venomous powerchords, leaning more assured into punk territory. To prove me wrong though ‘Set the Controls for the Heart of the Drum’ next gets a bit more quirky. It loses the room a bit but ‘Warhol’ brings back the bounce and Yes begins to move. Perhaps it’s just that the crowd know these songs better. Although ‘GND Deity’ is only a year old, yet sounds more familiar and keeps the crowd engaged. I’ve enjoyed the set so far, but it’s notable that the sharper sounding stuff seems to help the room respond. ‘Myrtle Parade’ has a summery 90s indie pop vibe, but a damn site better than that might imply. Its rolling bass and jangly guitars are very catchy. Nikki picks up a tambourine as the folky Americana of ‘Charlie’ drifts over the crowd. It’s a lovely respite that shows just how broad a sound they’re capable of. ‘For the Record’ is a Stretch Arm Strong cover we’re told. Honestly I wouldn’t have known it wasn’t theirs, maybe it’s their take on it, I’ll have to listen to the original to be sure, but it sounds great. ‘Gestation Crate’ follows with barely a breath. It’s breakneck stuff again as they tear through the set like time is running out. ‘How Did This Happen?’ keeps up with the post punk rhythm, catchy riffs and shouty lyrics. This is them at their purest, but it’s a really impressively eclectic set that tests and rewards an enthralled audience. ‘Comatose Chameleon’, another Nodega tune loses me a touch as I’m distracted watching the lights spinning like confused teenagers at a disco dispite not being lit up. I’m not sure why, but they look funny and it tickles me. After some mandatory Oasis chat, which I’m sure will now be thing to do once more by every visiting band to the city in light of recent events, they mercifully don’t play a cover, but instead we get an extended ‘Tarkovski’ which is gloriously fun, allowing Dan space to solo beautifully to his hearts content. It’s blissfully soaring psyche and I absolute lose it. I’m a sucker for this sort of stuff live. Watching a band effortlessly lock in. They look and sound so comfortable. Phenomenal. At the hour mark, I’d happily let them close here, but then we’d miss ‘Territorial Call of the Female’ and that would be unforgivable. It’s angular riffs totally resetting the mood, as its dancefloor banger swagger explodes. ‘Infinite Games’ is another cover we’re told, from a new New York band, The Consumables. I’m not too sure about it, but it’s a nice bit of inter-band promo and another original I vow to wrap my ears around. The place should nuts go for ‘Thrown’, this is a massive tune but this apparently isn’t that crowd. There’s pockets of dancing, but it’s mostly lots of steady bald heads bobbing. Still, it sounds awesome and is still one of my favourites. As is ‘Doers’. It’s steady too, but ups the ante with an infectious cool groove underpinning the call and response shouts that unite the room. We’re in fan fave territory now with ‘Statuette on the Console’. Bodega aren’t exactly a band with chart hits, they’re more of an underground band to obsess over and songs like this are reason for that obsession. They’re always great live, but this is stunning. A mini pit breaks out down the front for the furious ‘Monthly Follower’, again under the Nodega pseudonym. It’s blistering and twists into a trilogy, morphing into ‘Quantify’ with the tempo changes keeping everyone on their toes, before they round it out with ‘Show the Scaffolding’. They’re clearly having a blast, now taking requests, we settle on ‘How Can I Help Ya?’ which goes down very well and there’s a sense that they don’t want to stop playing and neither do we. A song like ‘Knife on the Platter’ at this stage of the set is an uncompromising move, but that’s Bodega, their confidence as ever is overflowing. ‘Pillar in the Bridge of You’ glides as the crowd begins to thin, people likely catching trains and last buses as they threaten to break curfew. It’s a nice come down tune, but the time seems to have surprised them. It flys when you’re having fun as they say. They want to go out with a bang though and they just about squeeze the short and punchy ‘I Am Not a Cinefile’ in before anyone gets in trouble. It’s quite a gig, they’ve amassed an amazing catalogue of songs in what’s a pretty short space of time. To condense that same depth into a 90 minute set, is pretty incredible. Bodega or Nodega, they’re fantastic.