Gig: WARGASM with CLT DRP & Harpy at Rock City, Nottingham
WARGASM by Nic Howells
Smack in the middle of a hectic two weeks of back-to-back autumn gigs, I was stoked to head to Rock City in Nottingham for a last minute opportunity to catch the WARGASM Venom tour, with support from personal favs CLT DRP and newly debuted Harpy. We have to give immense thanks to CLT DRP, for coordinating the opportunity to shoot this show. Having reviewed their recent album Nothing Clever, Just Feelings I was looking forward to seeing some of the new bangers in action. Here’s what I thought of the night:
Harpy
Expectations were very high for what is one of the newest possible acts on the UK live music scene. Harpy has been dropping music for a shade over two years now, but this tour is the UK's first taste of them on stage. Harpy makes a point of mentioning this is one of their first shows, period. They're right at home in the company of headliners though, they mention producing tracks with Wargasm's Sam Matlock. It's Harpy's talent that carries this spotlight effort though. Their vocals were pristine and had a great stage presence and crowd interaction. It's rare to see someone with so few shows in the bag perform like such a natural.
Every movement and note on stage during this set measured itself to the beat. Harpy more than held their own on a big stage for what is a very fresh live career. They dropped the most recent track “Inside Out” on 6 October for you to stream and will be supporting all remaining Wargasm UK dates.
CLT DRP
Hot off supporting Tokky Horror, CLT DRP seems to be making a hitlist of awesome shows to leave their mark on. They charge onstage with the title track from Nothing Clever, Just Feelings. Daphne Koskeridou's timing is exceptional behind the kit on 'Cake 4 The Women' and 'Desire/1 on 1'. The only track not off the recent album is ' I Don't Want to Go To the Gym' which followed. Anyone a fan of our review of Nothing Clever, Just Feelings will have been ecstatic with this set. Annie Dorrett's Canadian twang is like butter over thumping bass in 'M.U.T.M' and haunting on 'I See My Body Through You', backed by Scott Reynolds's droning guitar.
One thing CLT DRP's set is excellent for is their balance and pacing, as they move into 'Daily Affirmations'. All the strengths mentioned get even spotlights, and their connection with crowds is superb. They end their set by cranking up the electronic elements with 'I Put My Baby to Sleep' and 'NEW BOY'.
The samples, bass and raw vocals towards the end of 'NEW BOY' ramped things up to end their set on a high note, and also as the perfect warm up for Wargasm. CLT DRP are an incredibly gracious trio after the set as well.
WARGASM
The Venom album and tour have proved to be a 2nd or 3rd boom in buzz from the Wargasm duo, and its only their debut album. It's for that reason that Nottingham completely packed into Rock City in time for them to take the stage.
In the context of the tour, it only made sense for them to kick things off with the title track and the popular 'Minigun'. Having caught several Wargasm shows since the pandemic, it was very welcome to see them keep 'Fukstar' in the running order from 2022's Explicit, and even more so to see 'Rage All Over' from 2020 stay a part of things. They keep things especially fast and furious with Venom's 'S.A.D'. Personal OG track 'Pyro Pyro' also features, which has Sam Matlock and guitarist Eddie Pheonix duelling duties. With Sam & Milkie patrolling the stage throughout, the duo ooze comfort. Since first seeing them at Bloodstock 2021 the act's image has grown substantially.
The entire latter half of the main set is solely off of Venom, which is a testament to the strength of the new material. Milkie Way has an interest in how 'Feral' Nottingham is feeling for a Thursday night before launching into the track. Back to back duo of 'Modern Love' & 'Sonic Dog Tag' was a personal high point of the set. Drummer Adam Breeze has stated on socials that 'Sonic Dog Tag' is a live favourite. Matlock's harsh vocals are exceptional on Venom tracks.
The setlist for live shows is perfect, as 'Outrage' into 'Bang Ya Head' creates a warzone of Rock City. They round out the set with 2023's first single, 'Do It So Good', and a testament to the new inclusion of Adam Crilly on live shows. This track didn't quite work for me on release, I'm very happy to now call my opinion completely wrong, as live it's incredible. Wargasm has proved to be one of those bands that will deviate, redesign, and try new directions, it is yet to not work.
The band does dip into older material for the encore. They start with 'D.R.I.L.D.O' from last year's Explicit, which brings the crowd participation steaming back in. Despite being an excellent part of the recent nu-metal resurgence, Wargasm are pretty old school. They send the crowd home with the most familiar number 'Spit' from 2020. Sam as always takes to the barrier and crowd-surfs in the latter half of the track, and they end things on an explosive crescendo. Wargasm can't seem to help but go from strength to strength with their live show.
