The Key Club, Leeds
My night began at The Key Club in Leeds – a place steeped in university memories, the kind that flood back the moment you walk through the door (some best left unsaid!). I descended into the venue’s depths, eager to see what awaited. First stop: the bar, where I scored an absurdly cheap pint – a smart move by the venue to pack the place for the support acts, with discounted drinks for the first hour. And pack it, they did. The place was already buzzing; the band had been upgraded to the main room thanks to strong ticket sales, and it was easy to see why.
I wasn’t overly familiar with ALT BLK ERA (no, caps lock wasn’t malfunctioning – that’s their style!). I’d heard whispers online, especially after their Tom Morello support slot and MOBO win, but their music had passed me by until recently. Naturally, I binged their debut album, Rave Immortal, before the gig, hyped to see their unique blend of metal, DNB, dance, trap, and pop live.
But first, the support: Bex, a charismatic riot grrrl. Thanks to those cheap drinks, she played to a far bigger crowd than usual for a support act – a fantastic situation. This could throw some support acts off, but Bex takes it all in her stride, almost instantly calling for a mosh pit, which doesn’t transpire as the crowd seems a little new to the whole affair, but this isn’t the fault of the band, but more the reluctance of the crowd.
This reluctance does seem to permeate the first few songs as Bex blasts through some great punk with the crowd bopping along, but not quite taking it to the heights the singer wants. This seems to change with a cover, though, as she launches into a cover of Green Day’s “American Idiot,” getting the crowd going for the rest of her short but sweet set.
The banter between each song also seems to alleviate some of the crowd’s worries—banter that could be seen as a little over the top if Bex herself weren’t so sincere with it. It’s this sincerity and her overall charisma that really get the crowd behind her by the end of her set, ready for the main event.
Speaking of the main event—it’s time. With only a slight interval between the opener and the band, everyone is here to see tonight, ALT BLK ERA. A robotic voice echoes throughout the venue as the touring guitarist and drummer take to the stage—a hint at something bigger, emulating something like Bring Me The Horizon’s last tour, but without the huge budget behind that band. Then, finally, the sisters take to the stage to huge applause, both playing their part in the story of the show. They clearly attempt to act serious as they face the crowd, but the incredible reception from the crowd makes smiles shine across their faces.
The first few tracks, while danceable, are a little on the slower side, getting the crowd moving with huge applause between each, especially as the sisters are introduced by the older sister, Nyrobi, who introduces the show, explaining that they will be playing their recently released debut album in full. But again, the crowd seems a little on the younger side and reluctant to get into the full swing of things. This reluctance is then shattered by “Crashing Parties”—a song that Nyrobi notes is about each and every person in the venue that night crashing the party she wasn’t invited to by her old “friends” after her chronic illness diagnosis.
Indeed, now would probably be the best time to talk about an interesting but welcome part of the show: Nyrobi telling the personal story behind each song, showing how each was not only created and put into the album, but also the real and at times painful stories behind each. While very different and not something I had really seen at a show before, the connection this brought to each song added something special to the show and made for a real highlight.
But back to “Crashing Parties”—this is one of the danciest tracks the sisters have put out, but it was clearly what the crowd were waiting for, with all hell breaking loose and the venue finally finding its feet as everybody jumps into a fever—a fever that doesn’t let up as the band’s biggest hit, “Drummer’s Girlfriend,” follows.
An infectious mix of dance, DNB, and even some pop-punk, the song keeps the crowd going, whipping them into quite a frenzy—a frenzy that intensifies as the sisters introduce something else I have also never seen before at a show: a makeshift runway through the middle of the crowd with both of the sisters and the more adventurous members of the crowd walking up and down, before the whole thing crumbles again into a pit—something the sisters didn’t seem to expect but pivot to incredibly well, both seemingly having the time of their lives.
This passion and energy carry through the show and into my personal highlight, “Run Rabbit.” This simple song has such an infectious beat drop and chorus that even the biggest contrarian out there cannot help but jump up and down and lose it just a little bit. Now I’ve talked about Nyrobi a lot during this review, and this is because she takes the lead a great deal of the time, being the only one to talk between each song—but the next song, “Catch Me If You Can,” belongs to the other half of the sister duo, Chaya.
Opening with her hauntingly beautiful voice, emulating the best of greats such as Amy Lee, the song brings a very different but welcome vibe to the whole affair, ending with the heaviest section of the show by far, almost diverting into doom metal with the combination of ethereal vocals and poundingly slow, brutal riffs.
This mood is quickly shifted, though, as the title track and closer to their debut, “Rave Immortal,” comes next, once again hyping up the crowd into a final frenzy, jumping around even more than they had all night, shifting the crowd around and creating a real, unfiltered atmosphere. Yet, the sisters have one more surprise, and as Nyrobi announces that they have one more song to play, the crowd doesn’t stop moving, even in the absence of a song, already hyping themselves up as the band finishes with “I’m Normally Like This”—an anthem to all the freaks and weirdos of the world to proudly show who they are—a beautiful sentiment for a band that wears their emotions on their sleeve—something that is lacking in the DNB spaces.
This banger has the sisters ordering the crowd to stick their middle fingers up in the air in defiance to everyone who tries to put them down and tell them they can’t be who they want to be—a gesture the whole crowd takes part in, creating quite the statement and spectacle.
But with that, the sisters sing their final notes, and the show is over—seemingly just as fast as it started. With my ears ringing and legs aching from jumping, I exit the venue with nostalgic nights coming back to me, but also a real sense of wonder at the beauty I had just witnessed. Whoever you are reading this right now—go see ALT BLK ERA, because I’m calling it now: they will be huge, and you want to be one of the lucky ones who got to see them early.
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