Gig: Mirrors Festival
On Saturday, 28th October, I went to Hackney, London for Mirrors Festival 2023. Spread across four different venues in the Hackney area, this year’s festival took place at Oslo Hackney, Hackney Church (St John at Hackney), Moth Club, and Hackney Social. Of particular note, Oslo Hackney is where I arrived shortly after 1:00 PM to receive my wristband, which functions as a small restaurant and live music venue; it has a particular charm being a former rail station building, too.
As I settled into my chair, I watched the room gradually fill up with festivalgoers before the doors opened at 2:30 PM. There was a bar serving drinks and a kitchen with Venezuelan cuisine. To keep us festivalgoers entertained beforehand, there was also a record fair, which had one particular vendor selling Beatles records. We all received free Super Bock bucket hats, too.
At around 2:45 PM, I headed upstairs to see the first performance of the day: Heka. Limping onstage with a pair of crutches, Heka sat down on her stool and proceeded to play her set without an introduction. She performed a few songs from her discography, including “i don’t move, i” from her recent EP Swan Songs, and also some new material, serenading us with her angelic vocals and ambient electric guitar tones. The ambient reverb permeated the room. Out of all the sets I saw, this one felt the most private as everyone crowded around the stage.
With a quick break to the loo, I shortly went back upstairs to see the next set: C Turtle. An invigorating mix of experimental rock and alt-metal. Lead vocalist Mimi came in about halfway through the set as the others continued to amp things up. The crowd went wild for them with such stimulating music! Lots of head-banging. The most intense set of the night, for sure, as there was such ferocious creative power in their music.
Once C Turtle finished their musical rampage, dream-pop duo Robbie & Mona took the stage, captivating the crowd with intense red lighting and hauntingly ethereal music, akin to watching something out of Twin Peaks. Both dressed in black, Mona was on vocals and guitar while Robbie was on keys, synth, and also guitar. There was some serious sine wave manipulation in the latter half of their show, making the set almost glitch with electric wonder. Out of all the Oslo Hackney sets I saw, this one drew the biggest crowd.
I hung around Oslo Hackney for the next half an hour for Maria BC’s set. They played several songs from their new album, Spike Field, featuring tracks like “Amber.” Although they said they were shy, their stage presence was magnetic. There was a real depth to their music, touching on something almost otherworldly. The pairing of their droning guitar and vocal style created a hypnotic energy. Heavy but light. Maria thanked us for coming to their show, saying they felt a bit lost, but being abroad in London and having this support helped.
I dashed across the street to Hackney Church through the churchyard and made it just in time to see John Carroll Kirby and his band, which featured surprise guest star Eddie Chacon, a good friend and collaborator of Kirby’s. They were experiencing significant delays and tech issues but still put on a wonderful show. Performing songs from Kirby’s latest album Blowout, including “Mates” and “Oropendola,” everybody was grooving along to the music. Chacon joined the band for the last song or two, which caused quite an uproar from the crowd.
Soon after, my night ended at about 9:30 PM after attending Dur-Dur Band’s fabulously funky show, still at Hackney Church (which was delayed by the issues encountered with the prior set). Interacting with the crowd, we were instructed to sing and participate with the band. The frontman said at the beginning he wanted to see some “asses shakin’” to the reggae-disco-jazz set. And there were! Out of all the sets I went to, this one had the most dancers. There was a strong communal spirit that went out across the church as everyone got together for about half an hour to dance, leaving me with a good feeling for the rest of the night.
Mirrors Festival was one of the most enjoyable nights out I’ve had in a while. I look forward to next year’s and have already signed up for their email list for tickets!
