Here. Everyone. See Hinds - aye, that Spanish band - at The Caves? That was fucking mental.
Hinds are a warm indie rock band from Madrid, which makes the fact that their Edinburgh date was probably the rowdiest gig we’ve ever seen at The Caves somewhat of a surprise, though definitely a pleasant one.
The all-female four piece released their second album I Don’t Run in April, and it’s a hell of a record. The album is utterly charming, and oh-so-relatable, with the lyrics capturing perfectly the vulnerability and awkwardness that often comes with relationships of all kinds. It’s a record that wouldn’t be out of place as the soundtrack to a coming of age film. There’s lots of songs about love, but rarely are they love songs, and never does it get all soppy.
There’s a certain ruggish-ness throughout I Don’t Run. The songs don’t feel polished, and there’s a messiness to it too, which makes sense, when dealing with such messy subject matters, and it’s open and accessible music - the melodies tell you to let yourself dream and dance, not to take any shit, shout whatever is on our mind, it doesn’t matter if you look like a bit of an idiot while you do it.
Unsurprisingly, that charm translated wonderfully to the live stage. But a little surprisingly, it was met with some pretty heavy moshing. Genuinely, the atmosphere at The Caves in Edinburgh was absolutely electric. The guitar solos and instrumentals were mental. At one point there was a mammoth of a man who kept elbowing me by accident, but with elbows so big that it felt like a bunch from Mike Tyson each time, so I was driven further into the jumping crowd and - make of this what you will - I’m pretty sure I accidentally licked a bald guy’s head at one point.
It was that kind of mental.
And Carlotta Cosials and Ana Perrotes, leading the show on vocals and guitars, and Ade Martin on bass and backing vocals and Amber Grimbergen on drums all rose to the occasion, and then some.
Hinds are a warm indie rock band from Madrid, which makes the fact that their Edinburgh date was probably the rowdiest gig we’ve ever seen at The Caves somewhat of a surprise, though definitely a pleasant one.
The all-female four piece released their second album I Don’t Run in April, and it’s a hell of a record. The album is utterly charming, and oh-so-relatable, with the lyrics capturing perfectly the vulnerability and awkwardness that often comes with relationships of all kinds. It’s a record that wouldn’t be out of place as the soundtrack to a coming of age film. There’s lots of songs about love, but rarely are they love songs, and never does it get all soppy.
There’s a certain ruggish-ness throughout I Don’t Run. The songs don’t feel polished, and there’s a messiness to it too, which makes sense, when dealing with such messy subject matters, and it’s open and accessible music - the melodies tell you to let yourself dream and dance, not to take any shit, shout whatever is on our mind, it doesn’t matter if you look like a bit of an idiot while you do it.
Unsurprisingly, that charm translated wonderfully to the live stage. But a little surprisingly, it was met with some pretty heavy moshing. Genuinely, the atmosphere at The Caves in Edinburgh was absolutely electric. The guitar solos and instrumentals were mental. At one point there was a mammoth of a man who kept elbowing me by accident, but with elbows so big that it felt like a bunch from Mike Tyson each time, so I was driven further into the jumping crowd and - make of this what you will - I’m pretty sure I accidentally licked a bald guy’s head at one point.
It was that kind of mental.
And Carlotta Cosials and Ana Perrotes, leading the show on vocals and guitars, and Ade Martin on bass and backing vocals and Amber Grimbergen on drums all rose to the occasion, and then some.
They’re an instantly likeable band, Hinds, and have the music and talent to boot. And much of the audience reaction is just down to the fact that the new record is rammed with tunes.
An early play of the beautiful ‘Soberland’ showed the band’s lyrical and melodic talent - “how am I supposed to touch you and stay away” - and by the time latest release ‘British Mind’, a relatively mellow number complete with some bonus wailing guitar came around, the bouncing in the crowd was well under way, and more and more folk were getting sucked in.
"I learned a new phrase recently," says Carlotta. "It's 'lose your shit'! I normally ask people to do that here but it looks like you have already lost it."
There was a lot of first album stuff early on, and more second album as the gig went on. When ‘The Club’ was placed, The Caves was transformed into one, and when the angsty ‘Tester’ grew from its slow start into a big release, the place went wild. On stage, the charisma of the band is undeniable and the audience really was on side throughout the gig.
Carlotta Cosials was singing on a fans shoulders at one point. Ana Perrotes was in the middle of the crowd. Both stage dived. There was crowd surfing galore going on amongst the jumping fans.
The group played a cover of The Clash’s tune ‘Spanish Bombs’, “for my mum!” said Carlotta, and then - after a brief break from which Carlotta returned singing “here we fucking go” along with the crowd - Hinds ended with the brilliant ‘New For You’, a song as catchy as it is deeply relatable song and a real sing along anthem which brought the night to the perfect close.
After that, the musicians took their bows to an ocean of cheers, before Amber Grimbergen finally got her chance to get out from behind the drum kit and take a stage dive herself. Job well done.
The Caves were as magical a venue as ever. Obviously. They’re literally caves under Edinburgh. Can’t really go wrong with that.
The crowd turned up. Hinds turned up. And both had a hell of a night. A concert to remember.
5/5
Stuart Kenny
An early play of the beautiful ‘Soberland’ showed the band’s lyrical and melodic talent - “how am I supposed to touch you and stay away” - and by the time latest release ‘British Mind’, a relatively mellow number complete with some bonus wailing guitar came around, the bouncing in the crowd was well under way, and more and more folk were getting sucked in.
"I learned a new phrase recently," says Carlotta. "It's 'lose your shit'! I normally ask people to do that here but it looks like you have already lost it."
There was a lot of first album stuff early on, and more second album as the gig went on. When ‘The Club’ was placed, The Caves was transformed into one, and when the angsty ‘Tester’ grew from its slow start into a big release, the place went wild. On stage, the charisma of the band is undeniable and the audience really was on side throughout the gig.
Carlotta Cosials was singing on a fans shoulders at one point. Ana Perrotes was in the middle of the crowd. Both stage dived. There was crowd surfing galore going on amongst the jumping fans.
The group played a cover of The Clash’s tune ‘Spanish Bombs’, “for my mum!” said Carlotta, and then - after a brief break from which Carlotta returned singing “here we fucking go” along with the crowd - Hinds ended with the brilliant ‘New For You’, a song as catchy as it is deeply relatable song and a real sing along anthem which brought the night to the perfect close.
After that, the musicians took their bows to an ocean of cheers, before Amber Grimbergen finally got her chance to get out from behind the drum kit and take a stage dive herself. Job well done.
The Caves were as magical a venue as ever. Obviously. They’re literally caves under Edinburgh. Can’t really go wrong with that.
The crowd turned up. Hinds turned up. And both had a hell of a night. A concert to remember.
5/5
Stuart Kenny
RSS Feed
