Sea Power, Trades Club, Hebden Bridge. 19th August 2025

My gig calendar slows down over the summer and I very nearly forgot about this tonight. Thank god I didn’t, as I’m feeling a bit rough and the wonderful Sea Power at the marvellous Trades Club is exactly the medicine I need. Before we get there though, our ears are treated to the warm tones of White Magic for Lovers. There’s just two guitars and two voices on stage, but with the lullaby Americana backing track, the sound is rich. It’s like the score to a Gus Van Sant film. The harmonica certainly helps as does the smoke lazily drifting through the spotlights. They’re certainly very cinematic and folky, but it’s quite a full produced sort of sound, as much about the way the voices work together as the guitars and they do work beautifully. It’s Sunday afternoon sat in the garden mood, wistful psych and that might make it sound incidental, but live it’s rather captivating. The tempo is often quite slow and they seem lovably awkward, but it’s beautifully haunting stuff, guitars slide, feedback hums, always carefully controlled. Those voices though, the lad on bass is in Elliott Smith territory and that’s not to be said lightly.

It’s not until Sea Power take the tiny stage that I’m reminded just what a magical little venue this is. Their’s is a big sound and in this space it sounds like the heavens opening. Cymbals rush, guitars drive and break away for angelic vocals on ‘True Adventures’ and the trumpet soars amongst it all magnificently as the guitars let loose and that violin swoons on ‘Transmitter’. They’re a band that I always find quite disarming live. I simply forget how great there are. ‘Two Fingers’ is stratospheric and stuns the sold out crowd as its coda teases out in an ethereal wash. This flows into a much more delicate, but no less grand instrumental segue. There’s so much texture in their sound. The two guitars alone are sublime, one taking the sharp top line, the other the warm melody. Add the rest of the band in and it really is a heady mix. ‘Fire Escape in the Sea’ may start a little slower, but my god it builds, I’m lifted in the air and float weightlessly as they lock in. It’s pure magic. The synth underscore gives ‘Praise for Whatever’ some indie banger credibility. Maybe not dancefloor banger, that’s not really Sea Power’s thing, but you can easily imagine a packed festival field losing themselves to this. It’s like Elbow meets Mercury Rev. When the songs finish and the cheering quiets down, it’s a stark reminder that we’re in a small room. 200 souls awestruck, breathlessly waiting for what’s next. Which is the more haunting ‘Fear Eats the Soul’. Those keys providing spine tingling minor chords over which the guitars and violins can layer up. ‘Mongk’ is raw and visceral in comparison, with even more guitars. Riffs squalling over one another as the rhythm section threatens to bend time. The edge stays for ‘Doppelganger’. “Into the grave” screamed as the collective head bob in the room locks in en masse. The crisp ‘North Hanging Rock’ builds majestically and ‘The Spirit of St. Louis’ wouldn’t feel out of place in a GY!BE set as it bleeds into ‘No Lucifer’ which predicably goes off. The bald heads now pogoing with hands in the air as the euphoria erupts. The disco goth interlude of ‘Ecstatic’ sets up ‘Waving Flags’ and the sea of arms are up again. That trumpet soaring once more. Songs like this make perfect sense in here. It’s a room steeped in history and Sea Power carry its weight effortlessly. It’s glorious stuff. The band tight, the mood chaotic. There’s no other word for it, ‘The Great Skua’ is epic and as the crowd join in, it’s the perfect example of just how incredible live music can be. It’s a one song encore that brings the night to a close with ‘Lately’, but it weaves through a myriad of movements and easily clocks over 10 minutes. Honestly I’d rather they never stop, but all good things must come to an end and although I’m still feeling rough, Sea Power have certainly cheered my soul. A real treat of a set as they warm up for their own curated Krankenhaus Festival this coming weekend.