Review: Hinds @ The Fleece

By Sophie Scannell, Music Subeditor

With the relentless churn of deadline season creeping up on us all, a quick escape to sunny Madrid sounds more tempting than ever. Fortunately, Hinds are bringing the heat right our way with their new album, VIVA HINDS - overflowing with the exact vibrancy and sun-soaked charm we’re all after.

Making up the last of the sardines squeezed into The Fleece tonight, we’re just in time for the lights to dim and the crowd to fall silent rather than peeling into uproar. Perhaps trying to shuffle themselves into a prime viewing spot around the colossal pillars that adorn The Fleece floor, or maybe just too eager to make a peep in awaiting the band’s entrance, as their last stop in Bristol was way back when in 2018.

It's no secret that it's been a turbulent five years for the band, what with the pandemic slamming the brakes on touring plans and then a return to normalcy seeing two of the band’s members calling it quits shortly after. The remaining pair, made up of Carlotta Cosials and Ana Perrote, found themselves at a crossroads - would they continue as a duo or pull the plug on the band altogether?

The fact that they're performing in front of us tonight is admittedly somewhat of a giveaway, but an apt opening of their set with 'Hi, How Are You' quickly confirms suspicions that they've opted to triumphantly leap over any obstacles presented to them.

A sexy, biting back-and-forth between the girls in this track that opens both tonight's show and their latest album, VIVA HINDS, showcases a terrific defiance in the face of any past adversities.

Joined by the rest of the band mid-way through this first track, the song erupts into a fully-fledged crash of cymbals accompanied by shrieks of Carlotta that has The Fleece rocking wall-to-wall with a bass that travels throughout the room.

A now-full stage completes what is a strikingly noughties pop-rock look that the girls are sporting. Between white graphic long sleeves, small pigtails and low rise, chain-adorned jeans, the pair look as though they’ve jumped straight out of an MTV top 40, in which 30 of those spots were probably being hogged by Britney Spears.

'Coffee' lead the surge of hype as the first release off of the new album, and as the first rays of sunshine to grace Bristol that day lured pale, housebound students and rain-weary Bristolians out to the dancefloor tonight, the tune had all singing in unison: ‘There’s nothing as sweet as living in Madrid!’

Hinds are one of those bands that have gained the the utmost standard of acclaim from the Radio 6 Dad community, who make up a chunk of this audience as I find myself surrounded by IPA-wielding, baseball cap-wearing, middle-aged men.

For any pop girls left in the room, however, a nod to Charli XCX’s Brat had them lit up as bright as the album cover itself. Hinds reimagined ‘Girl, so confusing’ on SiriusXM at the end of last year, and all were delighted to see the green hue that blanketed the crowd for this unexpected but oh-so-welcome addition to their setlist.

Swapping out lyrics, 'forgot that inside the icon/ there’s still a young girl from Essex' for 'there’s still my friend from Madrid' and nodding to Ana made for one of the many heartwarming moments of the set.

Introduced as 'one for the lovers, friends, and all the lonely people', more balmy pockets of the setlist, such as 'The Bed, The Room, The Rain and You', are fitting for these touching moments of adoration for one another. The girls exude this mutual love tenfold throughout their set and, indeed, this whole period of resurgence and reinvention of their band.

Ultimately, Hinds can take on as many forms as they like. It's been made abundantly clear by the rapid sell-out of tickets and the enthusiastic moshing at a sped-up cover of 'Davey Crockett' to close the show that fans were going nowhere, even amidst the chaos. Viva Hinds!