Red Hot Chilli Peppers, The Killers and Kings of Leon are just a handful of the rock and roll legends who have passed through Camden’s Electric Ballroom, and Bilk can now be added to the list. The indie-rock trio from Essex took to the iconic venue’s stage last Friday night, promising an incredible night and oh boy did they deliver.
The Parallels were first to take to the stage, followed by The Pill, a duo redefining the definition of “girl bands” with their punky instrumentals and upfront lyricism. With the crowd ready and raring to go, the lads took to the stage with all their usual bravado, ready to kick off a night of mosh pits, guitar riffs and awe-inspiring chaos.
Launching straight into “RnR”, the first track from their new album the crowd comes alive instantaneously, cheering and jumping around. They steam through the first few songs, relishing in the chaos of the crowd, before shifting to play a track from their first album titled “Brand New Day”.
The air in the room softens during “Summer Days” as the crowd starts clapping along to the group’s first love song, before taking a 180-degree turn into “F Up”, as the moshpits multiply and people are thrown up onto each other’s shoulders. The discord is sustained through “Be Someone” before calming slightly as Abrahms switches over to his acoustic guitar.
“This next song is a song about someone you really care about. About someone who means a lot to you, so when you sing it you need to think about someone who you do” Sol explains to the crowd, catching the audience off guard as he begins to play the outrageously funny “Skidmark”. The room pulses with energy as the crowd joins in with the chorus, a cathartic “fuck you” for anyone in the crowd who needs it. After a few more songs, the audience seems restless as they commence a chant that makes Abrahms shrug and say “Well this one wasn’t on the setlist but I guess we should play a song about Essex on this tour”, before nodding to the band to play one of their oldest tracks “CM2”.
Back on track, bilk sails through a few more songs from their new album, and the electricity in the air peaks as Ali G crowd surfs and The Big Bad Wolf conducts an impressive mosh pit.
“It’s time for our last song” Abrahams explains to a very sceptical horde of fans who aren’t yet finished screaming and dancing. They “close” the night with “Band Life Blues”,the final song on “Essex Drugs and Rock and Roll”, before disappearing into the wings.
Disbelieving the band’s obvious bluff, the crowd shout for more until they run back onto the stage. The moshpits open back up and the madness resumes as they dive head first into “This Room is Caving in on Me” followed rapidly by “Fashion”. The visual cacophony was a sight to behold, with a crowd-surfing werewolf getting its shoes stolen while in transit, and beaming smiles all around as bodies crashed into one another and arms pushed and pulled in a desperate attempt to remain vertical (they were successful for the most part). What from the outside appeared to be a sweaty frenzy of anarchy and confusion, was internally a (still rather sweaty) hive of excitement, passion and elation.
Abrahams opts for his acoustic guitar one last time for one of the band’s most poignant tracks “Turning Pages” before thanking everybody again for the incredible evening. Bilk close the show with “Daydreamer” an obvious fan favourite and a spectacular ending to the night.
A powerful collective consisting of a myriad of different people, bilk’s fanbase is a force to be reckoned with, and it is plain to see that no matter what the band create, their fans will love it. From their explorations into the blues genre to their first-ever love songs, the crowd maintain their energy and support for the band throughout, reciprocating the same enthusiasm for the music that is present on the stage.
