Concert Review: NEW HOPE CLUB, O2 Shepherd's Bush, London

I always like to imagine that I’m discovering all of these great new bands, but the truth is that some are already a lot bigger than I’d thought, and that was certainly the case with New Hope Club. If you’re an avid reader of my blog (if you’re not, what’s going on?), you’ll know that I first experienced New Hope Club a mere few weeks ago as the opening act for The Vamps on their Night & Day Tour - you can read my review of that gig here. I thought they were really good, so when the opportunity came up to see them at their first headlining show at the O2 Shepherd’s Bush, I wasn’t going to say no.

It became clear as I sat in the venue that the band had undoubtedly picked up a lot of new fans like me from their stint opening for The Vamps, as there were a lot of fans of both, with a cohesive singalong when The Vamps Middle of the Night started playing over the speakers. I see a fair bit of similarity between The Vamps and NHC, and only hope they both get the recognition and popularity they rightfully deserve.

Once we were all settled, the show began with an opening act in the form of teen twins Max and Harvey who the internet tells me originally gained fans off of musically. What a different generation it is – ‘back in my day’ YouTube was the place to go to post your songs in the hope someone important would see them and offer you a record deal…

During their set, the twins played both a number of covers, including Shawn Mendes’ Nothing Holding Me Back, Twenty One Pilots Migraine and a cool cover of Bruno Mars’ Finesse, as well as some of their own songs like Shy Girl and One More Day In Love. The best part of their set for me was when they played a game I believe they referred to as Four Chords, where they tried to mashup a number of songs suggested to them by Twitter. This was a fan favourite, for me when they sang Sam Hunt’s Body Like A Back Road, and for many others with songs like HRVY’s Personal and Jacob Sartorius’ Sweatshirt.

After the set was over, the screams continued when The Vamps’ James and Tristan were spotted in the VIP section, and again an absolutely huge scream when the stage lights came up to reveal the New Hope Club boys. Again, I found myself surprised as this band was clearly a big deal and had somehow avoided my radar up until now! As it turned out, they’ve supported The Vamps on their last three tours, so maybe that’s why…

They began with the catchy 50s style Tiger Feet followed by a new song for me Medicine with a nice groovy guitar backtrack and range of vocals exhibited by lead singer Blake. In between songs, the boys would engage with the audience, but the acoustics in the venue were so poor I couldn’t hear a word they were saying. Instead, I admired the bands style, quite unlike any other bands I was used to with a kind of 70s America vibe – bowling shirts and trousers rather than jeans. Nice.

They continued with the sultry Perfume, and I kid you not, everyone was singing. Now this is what I call a dedicated fanbase. This was followed by one of their more ballad like songs Let Me Down Slow – I don’t know who’s writing their music, but this stuff is good. If they’re not already on the radio, I have a good feeling they will be within a year.

The staging was used effectively, particularly for next song Good Day which features on the Aardman Animations film ‘Early Man’, and so we were shown clips of the film and the boys sitting in a cinema supposedly watching it, as well as obviously watching the three perform in the flesh. A nice way to add a bit of extra theatre to what was already an enjoyable show.

Whilst most of their songs are undoubtedly high energy pop, they through in a few ballads for good measure, including Water: ‘you got me falling like the rain, as my body turns to water’ – good wordplay there, boys. Unlike Max and Harvey, it seemed that this band had made their first steps on YouTube, as highlighted by a cover they performed of The Vamps Oh Cecilia, which as far as I’m aware was what got them noticed by the band and the rest, they say, is history.

Interestingly, despite it being early June, the next song they chose to play was a Christmas original they’d written with Brad from The Vamps (there’s a lot of Vamps influence with this band) called Whoever He Is. Thankfully there were no sleigh bells playing in the background and with the exception of a few references to mistletoe, it could have passed for a normal love song.

It’s hard for me to pick what I think was the best song of the evening, but new song Crazy is certainly up there with its deep bass rhythm and melody quite unlike most songs out there. Give it a listen and you’ll see what I mean. Being a lyrics girl myself, I also enjoyed the words in this song, like ‘Stupid enough to love you, foolish enough to care, crazy enough to be crazy about you’.

We got a glimpse of how the band got to where they are with a nice video montage playing on the screen which allowed for a quick costume change for the boys. In it, we saw Reece’s initial foray into the entertainment business when he applied for the X Factor; as well as some of George and Blake’s home videos. A very cute interval and a reminder that we all have to start somewhere.

The band burst back onto the stage looking very dapper in suits for a Beatles medley including hits like I Want To Hold Your Hand and Twist & Shout. Again, the screens were used to great effect, showing ‘Beatle-mania’ as we saw girls screaming and crying over The Fab Four. I’d say it’s about time we found a Beatles-like band for the 21^st century, wouldn’t you? Could New Hope Club be contenders? If their current fanbase has anything to say about it, I wouldn’t be surprised.

The main set finished with big hits Start All Over, with the very American high school prom music video playing in the background; and the repetitive Why Oh Why with lyrics displayed on the screen in the unlikely event you didn’t know the words, which I’m not sure anyone could say that evening!

They chose a good song to finish on, a tied first place with Crazy for me: Fixed. After seeing them open for The Vamps and now on their headlining show, I have nothing but respect for this band. It’s been a long time since I’ve been so impressed by a boyband, but I’ll certainly be returning to their future shows, which I’m sure there will be plenty more of. That is, if I can get a ticket! Great night all round. Let’s do it again soon!

I hope you enjoyed today's review! Let me know if you were at the concert (or wish you were!) by dropping me a message in the comments below or on Twitter @CiarasCountry; and make sure to stay tuned for plenty more reviews coming very soon! 

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