Words: Tre Harris
Photos: Chloe Michelle Photo
★★★★☆
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One of Cardiff's most anticipated gigs took place last Sunday, featuring one of the biggest up-and-coming bands at the moment, Keo. With their support band, Brooki, they delivered a night I’m sure many in attendance will remember.
Photo: Chloe Michelle Photo / Keo
Brooki is a band I’ve been following on social media for a while, but even then my expectations were blown out the window with a grand defenestration.
Powerhouse frontwoman and namesake of the band, Sarah Brookfield, is, of course, the shining star in this troupe - the growl of PJ Harvey and the howl of Dolores O’Riordan channelled through her - but the whole band still manage to have their light break past the sun of Miss Brookfield.
Each member appeared to be occupied by their own personal nightmare - or dream, depending on the song. Whether it was the guitarists jittering like caged lions, or the bassist who could have earned a nice spot with white padded walls and free jackets for his performance, it felt like an interpretive dance as each creative found their own minds confronting them.
The music also sounded great! I love the note choices of Sarah Brookfield vocally; she’s not afraid of a little dissonance, and it serves the grunge essence of their sound. Especially when every note is delivered with more emotion than most entire people have in their entire bodies; the drum sound was PHAT, with a kick like a cyclops stomp and a snare like Zeus’ defining lightning. I really appreciate how the drummer is also brought more to the centre of the stage in their sets; the guitar work was creative, with a strong repertoire of tones to back it up, and the bassist worked almost symbiotically with the drummer to hold down every groove she built up. I wanted more!
Headliner Keo, of course, was next to take the stage. To get my personal nitpicks out of the way - the crowd really annoyed me throughout the show with their insistence on chanting KEO. After every song, like a football chant, and I personally got a little tired of their set as it went on, as it felt like too much. Every song felt like it was meant to be this big anthemic number.
I did very much enjoy Keo! The atmosphere they built with their low guitar hums like devil whispers and their symphonic feedback loops that gave me the same feeling of uneasy safety that I imagine an angel's song would give as the world ends; it was massive.
Keo themselves also look infinitely cool on stage, with a presence that showed their awareness of being the centre of attention, and that they were revelling in it. Swinging arms reminiscent of the who and shenanigans galore. I particularly enjoyed The Fin Keo singing through a microphone.
The tone of each instrument strummed or hit was to die for - I would kill for my guitar to sound like the lead on hands - the drums were still just as massive as during Brookie’s set, and the bass was warm and fuzzy underneath everything.
The music is well written despite my anthem issue. The track ‘Spent On You’ was a standout number for me during their set.
While I enjoyed Keo, Brooki left a much stronger impression on me. I find myself replaying the memories of Sarah’s bellowing voice and their maddening moves of torment more than I do the ones of Keo.