Nieve O'Donnell took a trip to see Sad Night Dynamite and shared her thoughts with The Mic.
A Monday evening at Bodega is usually an irregular feat for me. Nevertheless, a Monday night seeing Sad Night Dynamite, hailing from Somerset, at The Bodega couldn’t be passed up, and their live act sealed their status as one of the UK’s buzziest new acts following their addition to DIY’s Class of 2022.
Having listened to Sad Night Dynamite only fairly recently, I was uncertain what their live set would bring about. It was bound to be buzzy, but the torrent of love for SND was infectious. Josh and Archie - being the duo that is Sad Night Dynamite - seemed excited to be here and were full of compliments to the audience for coming down on a school night. It’s subtly dropped in that Josh actually attended Nottingham Uni, citing the city as one of his favourites in the UK.
''It was bound to be buzzy, but the torrent of love for SND was infectious''
Kicking off, they enter in with Light, an appropriate introductory track which sets out their urbane soundscape of electronic overtones before moving onto latest single Demon, which features South African Moonchild Sanelly. Smokehole, Mountain Jack, Black and White, Skully and Tramp are celebrated by the crowd as it gets more raucous. Anyone attending who felt like they didn’t really know Sad Night Dynamite could be assured that they won’t be forgetting about the band and the show any time soon.
The megaphone is perhaps not the most likely of instruments you’d see as part of an artist’s repertoire, but Sad Night Dynamite incorporate it skilfully. It’s fun and entertaining and, actually, offers the glitchy and slightly creepy effect that has become integral to their sound. Moving between hip-hop, R&B and guitar music, SND’s sound is difficult to pin down, but I have a feeling they like it that way.
Psychedelic Views, featuring Maryland rapper IDK, has become one of SND’s most popular tracks. Earning a spot towards the end of their set, the love was evident within the audience. Psychedelic Views features a slight interlude which resembles a bit of country music, at which Josh brings out a guitar and Archie works with him to get the audience singing along. Between Killshot and Icy Violence, Josh gets honest with the crowd, saying “I’m not f***ing joking, I don’t want to cry on stage,” whilst also reminding the crowd that they’ve been “fucking brilliant”. Finally, Krunk is SND’s most popular track and the crowd’s reaction to it was one of catharsis.
Unlike their music encapsulating images of wide grins, nightmares and urban violence, Sad Night Dynamite aren’t anywhere near as intimidating as some of their music. They just want to have a good time and give the audience a slight helping hand in doing so. This mini ‘Look Alive’ tour, consisting of Leeds, Birmingham, Dublin, Glasgow, Nottingham and a final spin in the big smoke of London, is just prep work for SND who are soon heading to America to support Glass Animals. No doubt, the end of 2022 will see Sad Night Dynamite as masters of their indomitable craft, with a vaster following than at the beginning and, hopefully, even more good tunes.
Nieve O'Donnell
Edited by: Amrit Virdi
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