Abi Kara-Fernandes reviews Everyone You Know's performance at Nottingham's Rescue Rooms.
As soon as you stepped foot into the venue you could feel the content atmosphere of the crowd post support act Master Peace’s set. After a lengthy wait, shortened by a brief performance from the audience as a whole as they couldn’t help but chant along to Arctic Monkeys’ I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor, Everyone You Know finally graced the stage, opening with Higher.
Track after track lead singer Rhys, in what could only be described as dapper attire (a change from the usual streetwear the band are partial to), provided smooth, crystal clear vocals, showing his strength in both rapping and singing. When the Sun Comes Up warmed the room, complete with red and yellow strobe lights imitating a sunrise, followed by cool blues for Play God. Crying on the Weekend came next, with snippets of Sweet Female Attitude’s absolute classic Flowers perfectly mingled through.
With lyrics surrounding raving being a prominent feature throughout their discography, the boys then aptly dedicated Dance Forever, their track with Hybrid Minds, to the many ravers in the room. After leading a chant for his bandmate Harvey and reenergising the atmosphere, Rhys then provided an instrumental snippet of The Drive. For me, this was one of the best parts of the night, and judging by the powerful response from the crowd as they rapped along, I wasn’t the only one in thinking this. The pure strength of Rhys’s voice was simply astounding, as was the emotion behind it, as if he was still reeling from the events outlined in the lyrics, both in the instrumental snippet and the full performance of the song accompanied by Harvey and their drummer Paige that followed.
''The pure strength of Rhys’s voice was simply astounding, as was the emotion behind it''
The night felt like it was only just beginning, yet Everyone You Know then rounded off their set with two poignant tracks Our Generation, another crowdpleaser that gave Rhys the chance to take a break to listen to the crowd singing back to him, and There for You. Exiting the stage, they were beckoned back by the crowd pleading for one more song. In true post-lockdown tradition, they returned to the stage with a rendition of their own Covid creation Just For The Times, reminding us all that the best times are yet to come.
Abi Kara-Fernandes
Edited by: Amrit Virdi
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