Dilly Dally, Night People. 26th January 2019

I stumbled across this band Dilly Dally about 6 months ago, for the life of me I can’t remember how, but that’s not important (but it will be).

First up were Hotel Lux, four lads with the worst taste in clothes I’ve seen on a stage in quite sometime, but despite them appearing dishevelled and slightly disinterested, they knocked out a great sound somewhat reminiscent of The Fall or Art Brut. No attempt to sing, socially vitriolic lyrics and riffs much sharper than their clothes. They were bloody great! But back to the important bit... Dilly Dally. I fell in love instantly with their albums ‘Sore’ and ‘Heaven’, but would the slightly nostalgic sound come across live? Let’s cut to the chase, they’re phenomenal. With a BPM that never eclipses an elegant grunge plod and powerful vocals that range from delicate breaths, making way for guttural screams that would scare the hell outta Courtney Love, they tear up Night Peoples tiny stage. Yes there’s a debt to a myriad of 90s bands, but this really is something new building from the ashes of a scene that never found comfort in its own skin. Dilly Dally aren’t shy or confused, misfits stumbling around. This lot are supremely confident, a powerhouse, relentless, beautifully aggressive and they look fucking awesome too. The audience are as energetic as the band, it’s impossible not to be, this band have a magnetic pull that lifts you and makes your body and soul bounce. Singer Katie Monks is every bit the star front-woman, but the whole band rock and bassist Jimmy looks amazing gliding around the stage in his gold lame skirt. It’s one of those gigs I buy a ticket for wondering if I’ll waste an evening... far from it, last year I saw one of my gigs of the year here and although it’s only January and I’ve a lot of gigs already booked, this is gonna take some beating!