As playful and sincere as their music, Her's are one entertaining duo.
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10
There’s something magic about Her’s, and it’s not just the talent they both bring to the table. It’s something about their relationship – their openness and camaraderie with each other and the crowd – that makes them so downright loveable.
It was a case of the right band at the right place; the two-man group were the perfect gig for the cosy Heartbreakers. Chatty and energetic, the duo kept the sold-out venue loosey-goosey all night long, swaying and dancing flat out to their alluring dream pop.
We started with support from Paddy McCaddy, sans full band Happy 2000 and sans hair. His rough and ready acoustic set didn’t really fit with the dreamy outfit to come, but it didn’t matter. The Southampton local more than held his own on stage solo, but a commanding stage presence and voice seem par for the course with this young musician.
Sinking down to the floor back to back or banging out a slick bass solo crouching down with the crowd, Desperados fuelled hijinks were the welcome order of the night. Armed with their guitar and bass respectively, Stephen Fitzpatrick and Audun Laading fooled around with each other and the audience to create some sexy soundwaves.
Their debut album, Invitation to Her’s (2018), comes alive with all the quirky characters that populate it. Some of these characters made appearances over the course of the night and offered us a warm and slightly sweaty introduction. There was ‘Harvey’, a song about friendship dedicated to Jimmy Stewart’s invisible bunny of a best friend in the 1950 film of the same name, as well as ‘Mannie’s Smile’, which Stephen explained was written about his cat. But for all the positive vibes and goofy fun, there were some sallads too, as it were (their inspired abbreviation of a sad ballad), including the touching ‘You Don’t Know This Guy’. The phrase “you can’t have a rainbow, without a little rain” comes to mind. Their set was dynamic and uplifting, but it was heartfelt too. They’d planned the whole night out for us with a perfect melange from both their debut album and their first album collection from 2017, Songs of Her’s.
‘Love on the Line (Call Now)’ and ‘If You Know What’s Right’ were ace, and they played all the hits too, ‘Cool With You’, ‘What Once Was’ and ‘Marcel’. They ended the night with the invigorating and climactic ‘Boy Racer’. That was, not before Audun showed a bit of skin to give his calves a well needed airing. Bopping and sliding all over the shop, the energy and rhythm didn’t just come from their music, it oozed out of these lads and infected you where you stood. I won’t be needing an invitation to go back to Her’s again. I’ll be there.
Listen to ‘What Once Was’ below.
