Live Review: British India, City Riots

It doesn't take free beer to get a crowd to see British India nowadays, but when you walk into Fowlers Live on a Wednesday night and you're handed a stubby holder with a cold dark ale, you're not going to complain. Not to mention free chicken wings floating around the place. 

City Riots' groovy, indie-pop had the whole crowd bopping around with pure joy and happiness. At this moment there wasn't a single care in the venue; it was almost like everyone was under a hypnotic spell. Ricky Kradolfer's voice mixes beautifully with the ambient feel of the guitars; it all gels together with nothing being shadowed by another instrument, which is a nice change.

With the introduction of free beer, you wonder what the crowd will be like. Will it be a bunch of drunken idiots stumbling around annoying the handful of people there to see the bands? For British India, this was thankfully not the case. The venue was packed to capacity and there was so much excitement when the band took to the stage. From the start of the first song you completely forget there was free anything, the focus was 100% aimed at British India and their brand of garage-rock, with catchy choruses and a high energy stage presence. You forget it's a Wednesday night, you forget that you have another two days of work. Everyone was there to enjoy what was going on on stage and chose to forget his or her troubles for the hour. Whether it was just bopping to the lighter songs like Blinded or dancing and singing like a raving lunatic to I Can Make You Love Me and This Ain't No Fucking Disco. This band has the ability to make anyone a fan, no matter what music you listen to or if you listen to music to begin with, with their mixture of intoxicating vocals, guitars, bass and drums coming togethe. Everyone was impressed by what they had just witnessed, from the diehard fans to the ones freshly made.