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London, O2 Academy Islington, April 11 2024
When Trophy Eyes started work on their 2023 album ‘Suicide And Sunshine’, they have been getting ready to take their last bow.
A Zoom name between the 4 members culminating within the determination that it could be their last album, the band’s fourth full-length report turned a tribute to all the pieces they’d constructed. Fuelled by a interval of deep inward reflection, alongside the way in which, Trophy Eyes discovered one thing.
Exploring snapshots of life and embracing the person moments that make up the human existence – ‘Suicide And Sunshine’ served as a reminder of what it’s to be alive. Extra importantly for the 4 individuals who created it although – it was a reminder of the significance of connection.
Because the album approaches its first birthday, the truth that Trophy Eyes are nonetheless taking part in exhibits is a blessing. The truth that they’re taking part in them in assist of their best album up to now? Effectively, that’s simply the cherry on high. The stage at London’s O2 Academy Islington backdropped with the long-lasting picture of a noose hanging from a palm tree, as our bodies pack as tightly as attainable into the 800-cap room, a buzz reverberates from wall-to-wall.
The environment can maybe be summed up in a single phrase, and it’s a phrase that instantly springs to thoughts because the shimmering synths of opener ‘Blue Eyed Boy’ sound out – euphoric. The gang surging as seaside balls bounce over their heads and pointed fingers are aimed in the direction of the stage, inside just some seconds of their time onstage Trophy Eyes show that that is the place they belong, and by their second tune – the explosive ‘Determine Eight’ – vocalist John Floreani has already made his manner into the gang.
It’s a reminder that while there could also be a stage right here, nothing divides these standing upon it from these in entrance of it tonight. Rattling by way of songs made to be shared, with choruses that burst to life when shouted again by a whole lot of voices, fan favourites ’27 Membership’ and ‘Heaven Despatched’ ignite the room, push-pits breaking out in what little house will be created on the packed-out flooring.
With simply an hour to rattle by way of over 4 albums value of fabric, there’s little time for Floreani to speak, however midway by way of their set the frontman pauses to replicate on their UK tour.
“That is present quantity six… all through these exhibits, the rooms have been packed out, however everybody simply kinda stood there,” he shrugs.
“Then we got here right here…. And that was one of the best fucking thirty minutes I’ve had since we’ve been within the UK.”
It’s straightforward to imagine him, and whether or not the room is leaping up-and-down in unison to uplifting anthem ‘One thing Larger Than This’ or grappling to seize the microphone from Floreani throughout ‘Suicide Pact’, there’s not a second of respite. Sweat beading upon foreheads by the point the latter drops, a deep sense catharsis radiates by way of the room, eyes welling up throughout a mass singalong of, “Aren’t you uninterested in hospital beds?”
The vocalist steadily pausing to soak up the second, the grin plastered upon his face is considered one of sheer pleasure, sprinkled with shock. The room’s voices repeatedly overpowering his personal, over a decade into their profession, it’s proof that Trophy Eyes are at their greatest. With ‘Suicide And Sunshine’ cuts ‘What Hurts The Most’ and ‘Kill’ sparking a number of the most raucous reactions of the night, earlier than launching into the album’s most reflective reduce – ‘Life In Gradual Movement’ – Floreani deal with the room.
“I’m usually requested what I need individuals to remove from a Trophy Eyes present,” he ponders.
“I need you to be right here and have an actual expertise… you’re alive proper now.”
Eight-hundred voices screaming again a refrain of, “The whole lot is non permanent”, it’s a stark reminder that none of this lasts endlessly, and an ideal abstract of what Trophy Eyes is all about. A band who’ve come to symbolise the vitality of discovering a lightweight inside the darkness – irrespective of how inconceivable it could appear – their exhibits are a celebration of the full spectrum of human emotion. Whether or not we’re united in our unhappiness or united in our pleasure, we’re all on this loopy life collectively – and everybody within the room can really feel that connection.
A band who’ve sacrificed loads to be the place they’re right now, Trophy Eyes don’t take any of this with no consideration. Confirmed as crowdsurfers surge ahead throughout the short-and-sweet bang of ‘Choke’ and the heartbreakingly anthemic ‘Chlorine’, Floreani making it his mission to high-five each one – no imply feat contemplating the quantity of our bodies being pulled over the barrier.
The infectious singalong notes of 2018’s ‘You Can Rely On Me’ rounding out the night earlier than ‘Bandaid’ brings affairs to a triumphant shut, tonight there’s no encore, no fancy stage antics, and no bullshit. An hour that passes by in a flash, throughout sixteen songs Trophy Eyes present maybe a very powerful factor any artist can – an escape.
An opportunity for all these current to overlook about no matter was taking place earlier than they stepped foot into the room, it’s an evening that showcases all the pieces nice about Trophy Eyes, and all the pieces nice about dwell music. Because the lights come up and faces beam as setlists are positioned into their arms, there’s little doubt that that is what it’s all about.
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