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Kerenza Hudson

Live Review: The Hara @ The Bodega

The TikTok hit band from Manchester, The Hara, made a striking appearance at The Bodega with clear and distinctive style. Kerenza Hudson reviews.


With gritty pop-rock riffs and the high-energy frontman Josh Taylor, the eclectic crowd was quickly caught up with the energy given out after the more chilled out atmosphere of the indie-rock support from Black Cats and Magpies. The sold-out show at Bodega had a mixed age crowd, from rock veterans to the new generation of pop-punk kids; clearly The Hara has an affinity with a wide variety of alternative music lovers.



This was my first time seeing The Hara live, but certainly not my last, as they proudly announce their appearance at both Download Festival and 2000 Trees Festival this summer. As soon as the band stepped foot on stage, my eye was caught by the guitarist, Zack Breen, and his denim vest paved with spikes and patches. Zack had great crowd interaction on his half of the stage, ensuring fans felt that they got to not only watch, but meet the band performing. As well as the shiny vest jacket, the frontman Josh was also not afraid to have an outgoing style onstage, wearing a leather skirt and pin stripe suit donned with the band’s logo on the back with white paint. Jack Kennedy, in traditional drummer style, wore a black tank top which was quickly removed to showcase his collection of tattoos, paired with two-tone suit trousers. It was clear each member, Josh, Zack and Jack had their own individual style and were not shying away from it.


This was the band’s second night for their ‘We All Wear Black’ tour, debuting their latest EP to the stage. The band opened with Black Soul Ceremony the first single off their newly released EP - a song clearly written for live music. With strong mosh-pit beats accompanying morbid metaphors, it made it easy for the crowd to interact together as well as with the band.


''Climbing the amps and equipment on stage in the classic ‘Rock and Roll’ fashion''

By the second song of the night, Circus, It was made clear that Zack, the singer, was not containable on stage and made good use of the room, climbing the amps and equipment on stage in the classic ‘Rock and Roll’ fashion. However, the aversion for staying on the solid floor didn’t end with just the on-stage equipment. Later in the night, the lead singer made a quick run off stage, got behind the bar and stood on-top of the bar front, all whilst ensuring no drinks were spilt.


The Hara is well known for their presence on social media, TikTok. Most people who know of The Hara will know them due to their collection of 14 videos, where they wear several costumes and outfits singing along to their EP’s title track, which gave name to the tour ‘We All Wear Black’. As soon as the lead vocals were heard, the crowd erupted into chorus as this was the highlight for mine and many others’ night. They didn’t hold back throughout the performance as the band’s enthusiasm for this single was proudly on show, with a gripping guitar segment and the whole band freely dancing on stage as the crowd shook The Bodega’s upper floor.



The set was closed with an encore, with fans chanting “One more song!” and an interlude of Rage Against the Machine’s Killing In The Name Of leading into their song Friends, a crowd pleaser of a song with a mettlesome chorus which was catchy and easy to join along with. Finally, after a short digression to wish one of the band’s close friends, who had travelled from Manchester, a happy birthday, the set ended with the song Animals.


With a great reaction from the crowd, which enjoyed the energy and essence of the genre non-conforming band, I’m sure that The Hara will be welcomed back to Nottingham with open arms soon again.


Kerenza Hudson

 

Edited by: Amrit Virdi

Featured image and in-article images and videos courtesy of The Hara via Facebook and YouTube.

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