Wednesday night at the Music Hall of Williamsburg proved that it doesn’t take a packed stage to pack a wallop. With only two bands on the bill and five musicians between them, Blood Red Shoes and The Joy Formidable filled the sold-out Brooklyn hotspot with the distortion and force of bands double their size.
What would be a feverish night, however, was initially slow to pick up. Doors were advertised as seven, alongside happy hour specials to coax show-goers to come in early to spend cash and loosen up. But even as BRS took the stage an hour later, less than half of the venue was full. They didn’t seem to mind the sparse crowd, though, stating they were glad to be away from “rainy shitty England” just before ripping into their second song.
Thankfully, those in attendance were enthusiastic about the guitar and drums duo and their pummeling punk and garage rock leanings, some of them cheering and whistling, others banging their heads and pumping their fists in the air. Singer and guitarist Laura-Mary Carter, on the other hand, appeared somewhat stiff as she stood the side with her Telecaster, thought that could easily be attributed to her substantial responsibility of having to hold down half of BRS’s immense sound, both instrumentally and vocally. Fortunately, Drummer and co-vocalist Steven Ansell was able to compensate for the little that was lacking, hammering out strong, steady rhythms beneath his impassioned singing and screaming.
For operating in a style both dynamic and daunting, BRS was extremely personable. Not only did they dedicate a song to the now defunct Mars Bar of New York City and the night they had after first playing there, but they also invited fans to come say hi at their small merch table after their set. “We came all this way,” Ansell said, “we’re gonna meet some people.” And after finishing their half an hour set to some healthy applause, a few members of the crowd made their way toward the exit, where a couple of BRS shirts and CDs hung on display.
TJF was slated to play next, but there would be a gratuitously long lull before the London-based trio made an appearance.
An entire hour elapsed between sets, which seems excessive given the fact that only two bands made up the entirety of the show. During this time, frontwoman Ritzy Bryan’s copious collection of guitars were methodically checked by a guitar tech, a microphone stand wrapped in lights was placed front and center, and a curtain was pulled back to reveal a sheet and wolf-shaped cutout that would later be used as the backdrop for projections during the set.
Fans trickled in and pushed toward the front as this went on. Those who had been waiting since BRS appeared surprisingly patient, and they didn’t get agitated as newcomers vied for the best spots to stand. Then, after some last minute taping of wires and adjustments to guitar pedals, the lights dimmed, the microphone stand glowed, and TJF descended upon the stage.
Ritzy picked up the guitar leaning and waiting against her amplifier and ambled up to the shining microphone. “We’re going to have a lovely time tonight, Brooklyn,” she said. “Come on, don’t be shy.”
The crowd heeded what they were told and began jumping up and down with infectious energy as the fuzz-filled “Cholla” from their newest record (Wolf’s Law) opened their set. The frenzy kept up, escalating noticeably when new single “This Ladder Is Ours” came around and reached its catchy and inviting chorus. All the while, images of desert landscapes, aerial views of NYC, old tour footage, and money burning played across the backdrop, complimenting the music and the spirited antics of Ritzy and bassist Rhydian Dafydd.
As TJF’s performance intensified, so did the fans. They flailed their arms and bounced into each other unforgivingly. They screamed back verse after verse, chorus after chorus. And their gusto was rewarded with continued spotless musicianship across songs from their two full-length albums, which were intertwined in a series of seamless rises and falls. It was an unrelenting spectacle, inexhaustible of drive and potency, and when TJF departed from the stage after an hour of solid, ear-splitting music, it was obvious that an encore would ensue.
Another unnecessarily long lull of setup and fiddling commenced, but fans didn’t care – the wait had already proved worth it. And so, they roared upon their return, only surpassing that level of zeal when they closed their three song encore with “Whirring,” the hit and fan-favorite that had first brought them into the limelight. It was a strong and fitting finish to an explosive night, and the crowd lingered long after Ritzy and Dafydd had already pulled back in their instruments after extending them momentarily into the audience so they, too, could be a part of the show. The house lights and music that followed, signals that it was time to go, seemed to only make everyone that much more insatiable.
Review by Justin Davis