WORDS AND IMAGES SAM HOLT
Sundara Karma are a band that have been on my radar for a while, but it’s taken me this long to catch up with them, tonight I was in for a great show, they are currently touring the UK as part of the Better Luck Next Time tour, their third album, they had also previously provided a short intimate set and were signing records prior to the gig at Bristol’s Rough Trade store.
Opening the proceedings just 15 minutes after doors opened are Make Friends who describe themselves as ‘indie pop’, the band consists of Tom Andrew [Vocals and Bass], David Thomas [Guitar] Connor Crabb [Guitar] and Max Lewin [Drums] and joined tonight by a female backing vocalist. The band met whilst studying at Bath and sight Sundara Karma amongst their musical influences, tonight they are very grateful for their slot thanking SK. I see on their social media this is their biggest stage and they played a great if somewhat short set, I did find it amusing that Tom reminded the crowd several times who they were and they were from Bristol. He was also grateful for those that turned up early to catch our set.
Soon after the stage is cleared, Ten Tonnes are ready for their set. Ten Tonnes is the stage name for Ethan Barret, younger brother of George Ezra, he took to the stage with his black Fender Stratocaster giving us a short thirty-minute set of his music. TT released his initial EP back in 2019 and was soon signed by Warner brothers. He had the crowd captivated with his brief set, even getting the crowd to sing along with him, like Make Friends he thanked SK for having me. He went on to mention that he had lived in Bristol a while back, so tonight it was great to be back. For me personally I thought he saved his best song for last, a song called ‘Lucy’, which I believe was the title track of that first EP he released.
As the dry ice crawled across the stage out came Sundara Karma launching straight into ‘She Said’, it proved an exhilarating start to the show, that and the combination of a crowd that were up for it, made for a great start. Singer Ollie Pollock moved across the stage as if he owned it with his sparkly Fender Telecaster, is joined by Ally Batty [lead guitar], Dom Cordell [bass] and Haydn Evans [drums]. It’s clearly abundant they love performing live and it’s not long before Ollie jumped off the stage into the photo pit leaning over into an appreciative crowd. They loved it!
Their set tonight was understandably mainly made up of from their recent album launched just over a month ago, but also included many fan favourites from their earlier material by now the crowd were singing, dancing and immersed totally in the experience. Ollie claimed Bristol was the best audience of the tour, does he say that at every gig on the tour? Who knows, but it appeared to be heartfelt and it came across this is a band that connects well with its fans, both musically and physically, especially jumping into the crowd, towards the end of the night.
Last song of the set was ‘Okay I’m Lonely’ after the lights went down the band retreated backstage, to cheers of ‘one more song’ they came back for an encore firstly playing a great rousing version of title track ‘Better Luck Next Time’ and finishing with ‘Flame’. It’s a shame there was a strict curfew for the venue tonight but it had to close and reopened shortly after for one its club nights.
Was this a band I’d love to see again? Without a doubt! While some have commented that they ‘lost their way a little’ I’d disagree and say that a band is constantly evolving and changing, they have returned to a winning formula, one that sells out venues, and has a great following, what’s not to like.
SET LIST
1/ SHE SAID
2/ BABY BLUE
3/ MISS AGAIN
4/ ILLUSIONS
5/ PAIN + PLEASURE
6/ FRIENDS OF MINE
7/ A YOUNG UNDERSTANDING
8/ KILL ME
9/ GREEN HANDS
10/ INDIGO PUFF
11/ EXPLORE
12/ VIOLENCE TO THE SPIRIT
13/ THE LAST NIGHT ON EARTH
14/ SOUNDS GOOD TO ME
15/ OKAY IM LONELY
16/ BETTER LUCK NEXT TIME
17/ FLAME
FOLLOW SUNDARA KARMA
FOLLOW TEN TONNES
FOLLOW MAKE FRIENDS
My life is a soundtrack, i track my life through music, photography is my passion, my escape, my expression. Without both i have pieces missing, thankfully i’m blessed and get to combine both.
Born in Manchester, lived in Australia for 22 years where i was heavily involved in the Australian Music Industry, firstly in bands (Singer) and then managing bands (all original), I moved back to the UK, Wales specifically 10 years ago
