Wukasa bring the energy to Sneaky Pete’s in first hometown headline performance.
Del Prez
The first support act of the night was Del Prez. He played drums and was joined by Eleanor Hill on vocals and Scott Bathgate on guitar and saxophone. Playing his own material, including recently released single “Echo Chamber”, Del Prez gave an impressive performance. Hill’s voice is powerful, even whilst dancing on stage. Bathgate is amazing at multi-tasking and playing flawlessly. His skills on guitar and saxophone are incredible. One of their final songs was a mashup of two pop songs, Charli XCX’s “Boys” and The 1975’s “If You’re Too Shy”. This was a seamless mashup and it was fun to hear two songs put together that don’t quite sound the same.
Del Prez looked proud as his work was brought to life before him, all three making performing look fun. I really enjoyed their set and I can’t wait to see what they get up to next. They are all definitely people to watch, together and as artists in their own right.
Terrace Court
Next up was Terrace Court. He is an artist who I personally think will gain traction very quickly. His set consisted of all his own tracks which included most recent single “Soon”. Terrace Court’s songs all make very easy listening. He had amazing stage presence, making the audience feel involved in the performance. My favourite track he played was 2019 single “Ghosts”, a catchy and melodic tune that sounds like the Weeknd and similar artists.
He was joined by Alasdair Kelly on guitar and David Burns on drums. They all worked well together and are all equally talented. Terrace Court was confident on stage, his music was upbeat and I noticed everyone swaying or dancing along to it. Like Del Prez, it will be interesting to see what he gets up to next and I look forward to attending another one of his gigs soon.
Wukasa
Last to take to the stage was Wukasa, the headline. This was Edinburgh locals Wukasa’s first headline show in their hometown, and it was an amazing one. Like the previous two acts, their setlist was a collection of all their own material including popular single “Rumours”. They also debuted currently unreleased tracks that all went down very well with the crowd.
The sold out show saw an audience of all ages attending, showing how their music is universal, no matter the age of the listener. The band are all talented performers, each with a vital role in the show. Their music is very smooth and easy to listen to, especially when live. With influences like Easy Life and Glass Animals, the pop aspects of their tracks can be clearly heard. However, Wukasa are able to fit into other alternative genres with their different and refreshing sound.
Being able to adapt their songs into a live setting allowed them to mix up the sound, with their songs developing more of a rock or alternative sound, rather than the more pop-resembling recorded versions. This was very successful and both versions work really well.
They all owned the spaces they played in, all looking to really be enjoying themselves. Wukasa also got the audience involved with torches on phones to perform a demo of one their unreleased tracks called “California”. Below is a video from their Instagram of this.
With every one of their tracks so far being noticed and played by BBC Introducing, it won’t be long before Wukasa are doing larger headline tours. I’m so glad I attended this gig, I can’t wait to see their next one.
The one word I would use to describe this whole night is electric. From start to finish, upbeat and catchy tracks were played, everyone was dancing along. It was a gig where not knowing the lyrics was just as good as knowing them. Whilst the acts played their own musical styles, they all blended well. They are all smaller artists but they will all definitely go far.