LIVE: Declan Mckenna At Gorilla

Supporting Mystery Jets in the same venue of Gorilla one year ago, teenage emerging artist, Declan Mckenna performed a sold out show, delivering a lively and extremely punchy 12-track set list…

Support came from the outrageous GIRLI. Admittedly, some people just didn’t get it. Her brash lyrics came as a bit of a surprise for the heavily dominated younger teenage crowd, but for those who understood, it was a truly well deserved and fantastically delivered support slot.

Performing alongside DJ Kitty, GIRLI didn’t stop to catch her breath. Dressed head to toe in pink, it’s clear that GIRLI’s songs are a way for her to vent her anger and represent other young women who don’t want to conform to stereotypes.

Lyrically extremely strong- her song topics range from current affairs, politics and the dreaded ‘f**kboys’ (that most girls have probably unfortunately dealt with at some point in their lives)- making for a passionate set delivered by the 19-year-old who most certainly could warm up any audience.

Finishing her final songs, 80’s songs and indie classics began to resonate through the venue in anticipation for Declan Mckenna. Madonna’s ‘Like A Prayer’ played out through the venue, noticeably singling out the minimal amount of older fans in the audience who knew the lyrics (I myself was shamelessly one of them- and I’m only 20!). The rest of the crowd seriously looked no older than 15 years old…

But when Declan Mckenna arrives on stage, it’s hard to hate the fact that the audience is full of youngsters. The maturity of his lyrics is something that characterises the teen, and teamed with his raw and distinct vocals, he becomes somewhat a role model to the audience- proving that being the ‘bad boy’ isn’t always the best thing to be.

He’s dressed in white overalls with glitter on his eyelids- you can almost start to see the beginnings of a huge super star, as he kneels down to the crowd and all of the young girls are swooning over him and trying to touch him.

He starts his set with one of his massively recognisable songs, ‘Isombard’. The audience go wild, and it actually stays this lively for the whole of the set. Recently releasing his debut album, ‘What Do You Think Of The Car?’ Mckenna also plays a handful of new tracks from there- sandwiching the hits between the newer and unrecognised tracks.

His accompanying band of Isabel Torres (guitar), Sofia Heustice (bass), Gabi King (drums) and Nathan Cox (keys) are incredible- complimenting every one of Mckenna’s songs.

Mckenna played all of his hits, including ‘The Kids Don’t Wanna Come Home’, and ‘Basic’- which was delivered with a moody and tangible passion. His on stage persona comes across as though he’s everyone’s friend in the audience. He jokes around with his band members and audience, and even comically forgets one of the song’s names off his new album.

His strongest tracks come at the end of the set. ‘Paracetamol’ was accompanied by lashings of confetti and balloons, with audience members eagerly batting them about. In-between ‘Paracetamol’ and his final track came new track, ‘Humongous’. At first, I admittedly questioned why it was so close to the end of the set, but truly, I think this could be one of Mckenna’s strongest songs to date.

Obviously, he had to end on his notoriously famous track, ‘Brazil’. Playing an extended live version of the track, Mckenna hurled himself into the audience, and rightly deserving. Every one of Mckenna’s tracks is as good as the last.

It seems as though the country is really starting to get behind Declan Mckenna. Despite his age, he sings fondly and maturely of the fears, anger and demands of his generation. Catch him on tour whilst you can, because Declan Mckenna won’t be playing small venues for much longer…