Kosheen "buzzing" on home crowd adoration

by Tamsin Davis
BBC Bristol website reviewer


You could see from the grin on Sian Evans' face from the start, as she peered out from under her heavy fringe, that Kosheen were more than pleased to be coming home to a sellout gig.

Kosheen confirmed themselves as one of the classiest Bristol acts

Clearly taken aback by the reception from the crowd at the Bristol Academy, the band were on top form on home turf.

Starting the set with the eerie mystic of 'Swamp', they stuck with darker songs from the new album Kokopelli for the first half of the concert.

The theme throughout Kosheen's music is the feeling of being battered and bruised by life, and a gritty resolve to fight back and take the upper hand.

And 'Recovery', which the singer dedicated to her friends, was a sophisticated summing up of it.

With an appeal which stretches from the hyperactive teenage girls at the front, who chatted through the first few songs and then jumped out of time to the rest, to the more reflective seasoned fans, Kosheen confirmed themselves as one of the classiest acts to come out of the hotbed of talent that is Bristol.

The more upbeat tracks which characterise their debut album Resist lifted the mood, and the crowd was transformed into a sweaty, heaving mass.

Finishing on a high with 'Hide You', their first attempt to leave the stage was met with a thunderous roar for more, and they reappeared to perform their latest release 'All in My Head.

Amid a reluctance to leave, Sian, who always seems in awe that their unstoppable year of success is in fact real and not all in her head, said: "I knew it would be good but I did not think it would be this good. I'm going to be buzzing off this for weeks."