At a glance you’d put the year to be 2007: the kohl eyeliner and stripy armbands running through the crowd hark back to emo’s heyday, and a baby-pink DS peeps out beyond heads, recording the show.
And there is the feeling of capturing a moment in music history. After the YouTube phenomenon of debut single 'flutter', Julie managed to garner a large, dedicated fanbase across the internet, whilst remaining relatively unknown to mainstream media. Debut album ‘my anti-aircraft friend’ is their first breakthrough, collecting glowing reviews from major publications and landing them on the cover of NME.
The night opens with local singer-songwriter Dove Ellis, who steps out onto the stage armed with a single electric guitar and a Beatles guitar strap. To a crammed Gorilla, it’s a hard sell but Ellis rises to the occasion: his voice soars around the venue with a power reminiscent of Sam Fender and the chill of Thom Yorke. It’s this that grabs the crowd, creating eager applause and exclamations, impressive for a crowd who are poised for a night of moshing. Twinkling guitars float around the venue, a moment of peace and reflection before the chaos ensues.
Then it is time for Julie, who step out onto the stage to roars of excitement. This is the first show after a bout of illness disrupted the previous dates, but there are no signs of nerves and disjoint: they launch into album opener ‘catalogue’, the crowd surging forward to thrash to the thunderous drums and discordant guitars, whilst bassist and singer Alexandria Elizabeth breathes into the microphone “I just want to stay here”. The lyric rings true; the band look at home on stage, creating a wall of noise that is abrasive and melodic, drawing comparisons to shoegaze heroes Sonic Youth and nu-metal Deftones.
The early material receives the warmest reception, debut EP offering 'skipping tiles' sees the crowd explode, Alexandria and lead guitarist/singer Keyan Pourzand trading vocals over whirring guitars and a roaming bassline. There is a clear evolution from first singles to album: the longer format allows them to touch on tender, gentler moments such as 'knob', the opening floating chords evoking the softer side of 'Title Fight'. 'clairbourne practice' sees the band draw on their initial shoegaze sound the most, infusing textural drums and industrial riffs that pour out the speakers, vibrating on the floor and up through the crowd.
The alt-rock three piece power through the set without interruption, until the final song 'lochness', a fan-favourite from 2021 EP 'pushing daisies'. No song name is required: the jangly opening chords prompt joyous cries from the crowd, anxious that the song may have been cut from their new set. It’s the heaviest moment of the night, razor sharp guitars slice through the speakers whilst Alexandria takes vocals for the final time, a valley-girl lilt coming through as she declares “I’m too tough to blow my mind out”.
And then the night is over, as quickly as they arrive they disappear behind the stage, leaving with them the sinister wail of violins that they came onto.
Kaitlyn Brockley
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Images: Kaitlyn Brockley
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