The reaction I heard from the crowd leaving once the lights came on in the The Lending Rooms summed up this baby-faced German outfit: "what a gig!", "best band I've seen in years!" and rather simply, "excellent". And they were. In thirty short minutes Giant Rooks managed to completely enamour the entire venue and have them pining for an encore. Unfortunately given this was Live At Leeds Festival, they were limited to the allocation they were given. But they made every second count.
Listening to their New Estate and Wild Stare EPs, I was expecting a Alt-J/Mumford & Sons indie pop mashup. But they were so much more than that. In fact they were completely separate. Sure they take influence from the likes of these bands but their sound is very much their own. Songs like New Estate and 100mg - the latter hitting your eardrums two songs in - demanded audience participation and got just that instantly. Barring a small group who'd had one too many, everyone was with the band from Hamm in Germany the moment they donned their instruments and introduced themselves. The drunken hecklers drowned out and even on-board themselves, swinging and swaying pints to the catchy indie pop on display.
Frederick Rabe appears to have it all. Tackling rhythm, percussion, synth as well as singing and being the ringleader for the various actions the band have the crowd involved in: from hand waves to harmonised oohs and aahs which were fundamental to cue the next part of songs. It's this type of action, so soon into a gig, which can essentially make or break a performance. I saw it happen earlier in the day at the festival. A lacklustre effort earns a minimal response. But Rabe and his band mates were brimming with confidence as if a seasoned band who'd been on the circuit for decades.
And they're not. Formed in 2014 and with not a single facial hair between them (I'm estimating a combined age of forty between the five) this clean faced adolescent group were channeling their confidence in rosy-cheeked grins, bouncing around the stage like a giddy dog eager to go outside for a walk. All this to impressive epileptic-inducing light work. The crowd were instantly receptive to it all, energy levels from everyone only rising as the set went on.
It was a surprising mix, the crowd. The youth admiring what I imagine will be their cult band for the years to come, right up to your typical middle-aged man sporting either a denim or leather jacket. The quotes I used to begin this review were in fact from a collection of middle-aged men standing at the bar. It was impossible to get ahold of the younger crowd, they were glued to the front swooning the bassist post performance.
It would be difficult to not find yourself either foot tapping or head bobbing when seeing Giant Rooks live. Infectious songs, an expression from the whole band like they loved every single moment they had on that stage and gave it their all as if their lives depended on it. Rabe ended the night by announcing "we will definitely be back here Leeds" to rapturous applause. He grinned. We smiled. Well played guys.
Reviewer - Tobias James
on - 4/5/19
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