Review/ Homeshake @ Fiddlers

By Francesca Frankis, Music Editor

'Sagar’s quiet yet intricate sound found it’s way to Bristol last Thursday', Francesca Frankis reviews.

I first stumbled across Homeshake when his debut album In the Shower had it’s moment back in 2014. The project of Canadian native, Peter Sagar, Homeshake was once Mac Demarco’s guitarist, but quit the band to pursue his own musical career when Demarco’s hectic tour schedule became too much. Since the release of his homecoming record In the Shower three more full length Homeshake albums have blessed us; including his most recent ‘Helium’, an archetype of DIY indie music. Sagar’s quiet yet intricate sound found it’s way to Bristol last Thursday at Fiddlers club in Bedminster.

Without much fuss of an introduction, Sagar and his 3 man band made their way onto the stage and opened with 'Give It to Me'. You could see the difficulty of getting the timing right, especially with the guitar part that sounds out of time, but on purpose. At this point there were still pockets of the crowd fostering incessant chatter. A few songs later and Sagar was singing over the smooth slightly more upbeat tune of ‘Call Me Up’, still accompanied by a considerable amount of noise from the crowd. Between tracks Sagar smiled outwards and gestured for silence, but any attempts he made for less noise were quashed. Despite the poor effort of the gig goers, Homeshake and his band soldiered through. They seamlessly weaved between songs like ‘Just Like My’ off his latest record, and earlier favourites such as ‘Every Single Thing’. Sagar seemed deep in thought as his voyaged through his records, carefully timing each atmospheric synth and unusual sound that make up much of his work. The set was neatly brought to a close with ‘Khmlwugh’, a jazz heavy bass track with a catchy chorus, to which the crowd bobbed along.

Whilst at no point would I place Homeshake at fault, the gig was entirely overshadowed by terrible noise, courtesy of the crowd. More than anything, it reflects the realities faced by artists performing music that is so contingent on atmosphere. Being able to translate the quiet lo-fi tone Sagar has fostered on his records into a live performance, requires some contribution from those watching. Though this contribution only needs to be small, those attending Homeshake at Fiddlers Club failed to provide even a shred of the environment his music needs in order to thrive. On its own, Homeshake’s performance was nothing short of great, but as a whole, the lack of participation from the crowd was unlike any I’ve experienced at a gig before.

Featured Image: Francesca Frankis / Epigram

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