overpass, Oporto

They’ve supported The Snuts and The Covasettes, their Spotify streams are rising by the day and they’re makers of really spectacular indie bops. That’s why I jumped at the pre-Christmas opportunity to see overpass at Oporto*.

The room was appropriately heaving and there was nothing but a sea of young faces. So, before the Birmingham band had even taken to the stage, it was clear they could pull in a crowd. They’d been supported by The Slates, a local outfit who obviously had groups of supportive pals poised, ready for a fun night.

There was an energetic buoyancy to the whole show — I couldn’t tell if overpass were used to that or whether it was just the Leeds way. You can’t get through a gig round here without those famous “Yorkshire, Yorkshire, Yorkshire” chants. Either way, overpass deserved the emphatic response they received at Oporto, especially as lead singer, Max, had given the room permission to “go fucking nuts”.

Throughout their playing of hits like ‘Changes’ and ‘Stop the Clock’, the band retained their Brum roots in their vocal output. They’ve taken a leaf out of the books of Arctic Monkeys, The Kooks and so on, who modernised and commercialised own-accent singing. It’s a mainstay of the true-to-yourself UK indie scene, and one that lent itself nicely to a very deftly-handled cover of Oasis’ ‘Half The World Away’, too.

All in all, overpass utterly delivered on the indie-rock front, so it’s no surprise that they’re doing so well and have such backing behind them. I got serious Channel 4 coming-of-age TV show vibes as a bonus — they would’ve thrived in the Inbetweeners era. Most certainly a compliment.