“The sunrise will come again and you’ll be just fine.”
Movements took to the stage at Islington Assembly Hall on a warm Sunday eve, supported by Uzumaki, amongst a EU/UK summer run of shows in between their appearances at Outbreak Fest and 2000trees Festival. This was a long anticipated show for me and I was not disappointed.
Words and photography by Amy Shephard on the 7th July.
Uzumaki
Uzumaki, the self proclaimed ‘big fun rock’ band, were just that, starting the night off and leaving a lasting impression. They brought a modern meld of UK indie rock inspired by 90s grunge, taking us from some strong but easier going verses to their full, high energy choruses. Uzumaki are a genuinely local and emerging band, so it was refreshing to see them in the support slot for an established artist. The flip-side of this is that their immense synergy between one another was not consistently reciprocated by the crowd, falling victim to being the calmer lesser known band. Nonetheless, they were definitely a perfect warm up and segue into the heavier post-hardcore sound from Movements. And while Uzumaki were less heavy, they were still high energy, and that never wavered. They are a fiery yet humble band that do not need a specific venue or crowd to draw their spirit from, and have shown London their massive potential.
Movements
The eclectic post-hardcore band from California have a good relationship with their UK fans and you could certainly feel it at this show. It is always warming to feel a band genuinely excited to be performing in your city and they really did put on a great show to prove it. They provided an electric, interactive and consistent expressive love which was reciprocated by the crowd. It felt a little refreshing to be in a crowd where I wasn’t being crushed throughout by people trying to get their big moment with the band at the cost of others – this was a respectful crowd and a very fun set. We received plenty of humoured banter and endearing attempts to take on a bit of British humour, with lead man Patrick Miranda embracing this despite some confusion at the football chants. The real crowd winner was when Miranda mentioned how he had heard of a man called Jeremy Corbyn. This quickly elicited a rather loud ‘oh, Jer-emy Cooor-byn’ chant lasting a fair few minutes, filled out with laughter and the band joining in with some background instrumentals – a true audience collaboration.
Stunning vocals were consistent throughout which melded perfectly with the interactive showmanship. A well selected setlist allowed Ruckus to shine whilst appeasing the fans with key favourites. They started out with their most recent single “Afraid To Die” which opened us up to the experience (one that Movements seem to really want their fans to embrace) of truly welcoming the new whilst appreciating the old. They swiftly jumped back to where it all began for many, “Third Degree” from their timelessly popular 2017 album Feel Something. This was a smart and engaging shift to bring the crowd back into a space of comfort, trust and excitement for the direction of the set, providing space for any long time fans to jump around to the music that likely introduced them to the band.
After this, Movements dove back into some newer, absolute belters from their latest album Ruckus which this tour was out to celebrate. They finished things off with a very emotional and cathartic performance of their both punchy and delicately woven song “Daylily” where I found myself tearing up a little bit whilst singing along. I really felt the emotional union and release fill up the room, connecting us to the band as well as to each other – or maybe I was just shrouded entirely by my own cathartic moment, hearing this track live, to notice anyone else’s reactions.
This show was certainly a loud and proud celebration of the variety that the indie-brushed, post hardcore band Movements provide throughout their discography, highlighting their newest album Ruckus. To reiterate, a true celebration of the old and new, of what’s to come and what got them to where they are now, that was well warmed into thanks to the impressive emerging indie, grunge rock band Uzumaki. This was a show that left me compelled to remove my ear plugs, despite my own impending tinnitus, in order to be enveloped by the sound and be immersed fully.
