CloseUp Festival @ Colours Hoxton

For me, the word “festival” conjures up mental images of pitches crammed with thousands of sweaty people, flanked by hot dog stands and porta-potties. So, I was surprised when I arrived at the CloseUp Festival in Colours Hoxton, a medium-sized, appropriately colorful club near a leafy park in London. It was crowded with folks soaking up the wonderful sunshine on the front patio.

I wandered to the back room, where Sad Boys Club were getting warmed up - they were wearing parts of Sesame Street costumes that looked incredibly sweaty. Frontman Jacob Wheldon was stealing the show.

Sad Boys Club photographed by Saloni Jaisingh

Full of antic energy, he danced back and forth, crouching, jumping, belting out confessional lyrics with great range. In an interview, Wheldon said he didn’t like how the media labeled them indie, because they were “actually emo”. I thought their performance took from both genres nicely, blending clean guitar hooks and tight drums with emo-inspired vocals. It was a shame that the room was not very full.

second thoughts photographed by Saloni Jaisingh

After an extended intermission, second thoughts came on. I would guess that they were between 19 and 22 - either way they looked like Seattle rockers from the ‘90s. The “frontman” wore some sweet Napoleon Dynamite glasses, and the bassist (the only female presence on stage I saw that night) had a compellingly grunge hairstyle. They started up their set, and I began to feel nostalgic. They sounded like a trip back to college house party shows, but with a bit more polish, and with no unplanned breaks where the sound guy has to fix everything. Tight jam followed tight jam, taking cues from 2010s era rock outfits. The slight repetitiveness was broken up by the fact that they seemed to switch between vocalists every other song—so in a sense, they had three frontmen. I would definitely see them again. Nearing 8pm, the room was still quite empty: I counted 25 people at one
point, including the band, the staff, and myself.

I took a breather outside before Havelock came on. When I returned the room was now, suddenly, full. Havelock (and his band) brought a very different energy and a very different sound - a sort of unique indie/R&B/soul hybrid.

As he crooned over sensual lyrics, I felt a bit like I was listening to Marvin Gaye singing over a Glass Animals track, which he pulled off well. In an interview he described his sound through the metaphor of a fruit cake– “It’s got all the components: Fruit–juicy melodies. Nuts–honest lyrics. Cake mix–the fluffy foundation of the instrumental”. I tend to hate fruit cakes, but this one was pretty good. Everyone else seemed to love it, and the crowd was singing along. The track “SCRAMBLED” was a hit, and a strong closer to a good night for both Havelock and myself.