Only The Poets are clearly on an upward trajectory, and one thing you can be sure of, with this four-piece band from Reading is that, however huge they get, they will never forget their roots! With the release of their impressive debut album, And I’d Do It Again, they have championed the grassroots music scene by offering a support slot at a large London gig to an up-and-coming band, supported their fan base by offering £1 tickets for their Brixton show, and launched their album with an impressive day across two venues in their hometown.
What a day that was! We went along, and it was an honour to be part of something that felt incredibly special. It was one of those days that, in years to come, will be talked about as one of those “I was there” occasions.
The first part of the day started at a venue that deservedly continues to enhance its reputation more and more — of course, The Purple Turtle. This was the location for the Battle of the Bands competition to determine which act would win the coveted support slot at the Only The Poets Brixton show. As we approached the venue, it was incredible to see huge queues on both sides of the road. We entered and went downstairs, where Only The Poets were doing a signing session. The queues for that went on for most of the afternoon! We said a quick hello to the band and chatted with their manager, Sam, who told us all about their plans, which included supporting and championing the music scene. It was all very impressive and, with Sam plus the rest of the band’s team — who were all so friendly and efficient — they are clearly in very good hands.
We then headed into the main room upstairs where, with such an incredible prize on offer, the atmosphere was a mix of excitement and anticipation. The five bands chosen had already been whittled down from applications of well over a thousand to a shortlist of fifty, and so the quality of the playing was clear to see. First up was the impressive dark intensity of Feral Family, followed by the melodic indie of Baby Said, who we’ve featured in our RaW Sounds.Today playlist previously and were as good as always. Then we had Seren, a clearly very talented singer-songwriter, with her band providing a great soul-pop feel, before the next artist, Belle Dame. With their excellent, tight musicianship and strong vocals, they presented their quality songs very well. Finally, we had Semwanga, a band based around Dominic Semwanga, who provided a great end to the Battle of the Bands with their infectious, funk-infected set. Each of the five artists produced great sets with really diverse styles, and all went down extremely well with the crowd.
Towards the end of the afternoon, we managed to have a chat with the talented members of Only The Poets — Tommy, Clem, Andrew and Marcus — and they all spoke with great passion about their love of the local music scene and how they want to champion unsigned and independent talent. They explained how much it all meant to them. Andrew recalled how seeing bands in their early days, like Don Broco at The Face Bar, inspired them and fired them up to create their own music. Tommy explained how keen they are to put Reading back at the forefront of the national and international music consciousness with their music, and also by putting on other events in the town. With their enthusiasm and proactive efforts, that is already happening.
The band then headed onto the stage to end the afternoon’s proceedings with a short live set that was perfectly chosen and really whetted the appetite for the forthcoming evening show. Seeing the band live at The Purple Turtle — a venue where they started their career many years ago — with the whole place jumping and singing along was something we’ll remember for a long time.
It had already been a brilliant day, and we were buzzing from the exhilaration of it all, but there was obviously more to come as we headed over to another Reading venue, 3Sixty. The event started with the band signing yet more copies of their new album (it’s certainly selling well), and then we were treated to a live set from support act Pedro Santos. He was new to us, and we were impressed. Clearly a talented artist, he treated the crowd to a perfect warm-up to the main event with his set of quality indie pop. I suppose it wasn’t surprising that he was so good, as he was previously a member of the successful boy band, Here At Last.
As Pedro left the stage, the tension was building as the large crowd waited in anticipation for Only The Poets, the stars of the day. When they hit the stage, the place erupted. It was a sea of people dancing and singing along as the band showed why they are being tipped for big things. They owned the stage, with their passion and enthusiasm coming across, powered by their infectious, melodic and uplifting indie-pop sound. Tommy is certainly an impressive front person, and the rest of the band are such a powerful and tight unit. The crowd sang along with every track, whether it was a brand-new album song or a previously released single, and the set went all too quickly. Before we knew it, the band had left the stage, before returning for an incredibly moving encore — firstly their classic single Jump, and then, to finish it off, Emotional, the song inspired by the venue we’d been to earlier that afternoon, The Purple Turtle. The title of that song certainly summed it all up — that seemed to be how everyone was feeling!
As we left the venue, emotionally drained but very elated, it was clear that everyone who had been part of the day’s events had witnessed something very special. It was a wonderful hometown celebration of where the band have been, where they are now, and where they are going to be. They are on the way to big things! It won’t be long until they are headlining venues like Brixton Academy… oh, they already have… they did that two days later… check out Jake’s review of that in this paper! Now watch out for even bigger venues than that in the future! However big they get, though, you can also be sure that Only The Poets will never forget their Reading roots and will be returning on many occasions.
Of course, we must also mention the results of the Battle of the Bands, as you may be wondering who won. Well, the audience at The Purple Turtle were asked to vote for their favourite as they left the venue. Then, during the Only The Poets set in the evening, Tommy announced the result — and there was a twist. The results between the top two artists had been so close that the band decided there would now be two support slots for their Brixton show, filled by both Seren and Belle Dame. What a great result for these two fine bands!
Have a listen to a playlist of the Only The Poets set list at https://bit.ly/OnlyThePoetsSetList, and also check out this week’s RaW Sounds.Today playlist, which features a track from their album alongside other tracks with connections to the local music scene: https://bit.ly/rawsoundstoday
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