Having formed within the last two years, South London based ‘multimedia collective’ Breton (think a synth-heavy, experimentalist Foals) are already well established within the London music scene, but not far beyond – yet.
Being the stop on their debut headline tour closest to their Kennington base, the band was understandably nervy about playing to an audience who were familiar with their work.
Used to either opening for other artists or playing venues in which the audience is blissfully unaware of the talents of this inscrutable quintet, this was the first occasion in which Breton had to perform under a degree of expectation.
They needn’t have worried. Despite a few technical problems, (nothing a little gaffer tape couldn’t fix) Breton gave a live performance which fully highlighted their potential.
The set consisted largely of tracks from their debut album Other People’s Problems, released two days earlier.
Crowd pleasers and new singles, ‘Edward the Confessor’ and ‘Interference’ were played successively, midway through the set, to a greatly appreciative crowd, a large part of which, admittedly, seemed to comprise of friends of the band.
Singer Roman Rappak acknowledged the crowds energy; gesturing with an outstretched hand during the opening lyrics of ‘Wood and Plastic’ whilst wailing “the crowd seemed so welcoming”.
Further favour was paid, when during the penultimate song he handed out a bottle of wine the band had been swigging from to a group at the front telling them to pass it round.
The group performed to a backdrop of their home-made films (which in themselves are impressive) giving the already intimate, almost house party-like gig a D.I.Y. feel. In all, a great gig at the perfect venue.