A quirk of fate meant the #TEAMw21 had bumped into Brooke Law at an exclusive little shindig in Soho in the run up to C2C. She was of course her usually bubbly self but confessed to recovering from losing her voice. Any thoughts of putting in a lesser performance though never seemed to cross Brooke's mind - she is all or nothing - and today she most certainly gave her all.
She may be tiny in stature but she is massive in terms of stage presence and attitude and today she brought it all to bear. The best music should stir something within you and this set would be among the best in what would be a very high quality weekend on the outside stages - it rippled with energy
Backed with a take no prisoner band, this punchy little combo rocked the ICON stage in a way quite unlike any other. Opening with "Talk To Me", this was power pop, full of brooding strumming before exploding into the chorus which was something of an all out aural assault - fantastic!!
A change of pace for "Millionaires" showed another side to Brooke , a gentle vocal sung while slightly swaying. Rarely have we seen a band look like they were really loving what they were playing as much as Brookes, the funky guitar work on "We All Need Saving" being a case in point - it was matched by Brooke's vocals slightly more raspy than usual but still superb.
"Bad Tattoo" welded an acoustic intro into a powerpop chorus and showed Brooke in her element, hushing the band with a "Shhh" allowing a few seconds of pause and then heading into a rocking chorus.
The new single "Wild As I Was" had Brooke almost rapping over a rocking beat and once again her stage management skills came to the fore during "Boomerang" orchestrating the crowd to provide the backing. It was a sheer joy, its almost Pixies like intro, then it was broody and almost bristled with energy before exploding into the chorus with the erupting "Whoas" ever increasing in volume, even the guitarist found time to punch the air as he played - it generated that sort of excitement.
There is nothing quite like seeing Brooke swaying her head from side to side, her face almost disappearing as her hair goes off in one direction while her head returns in the other.
This was a set that flew by in record time and undoubtedly this lady is going places. If nowhere else she will be heading to the Buckle & Boots Festival to hopefully rip things up in a similar manner.
Catch her while you can!!!