Live Review: Tribes – Live At Koko – The Koko, London

Following the release of the band’s third album ‘Rabbit Head’ back in August, Tribes took to The Koko for their first proper London headline show of the year: celebrating the music with a hometown crowd who knew every lyric off by heart. Joined alongside Tough Cookie – for which this was their debut performance under this name – the night promised to be a night to remember.

Bringing along fans from their previous project (Daisy Brain), Tough Cookie laid down a well curated set that sparked an extremely positive reaction from the early arrivals in the crowd. The energy laid out from the band was contagious as they played through their short set, setting the perfect tone for the night ahead. A great debut performance, from a band who’ve got a whole lot of potential with them.

As the venue started to reach capacity, the anticipation in the room built to a high and with the lights dimming the room erupted into a cheer to welcome the Camden heroes home, coming out to the Back To The Future theme. Little time was wasted as they got underway with ‘Catwalk’ the first of many tracks from ‘Rabbit Head’. From the moment the first lyrics were sung the crowd showed their familiarity with Tribes’ discography, passionately singing word for word back to the band.

Seamlessly switching between the band’s latest album and their pre-hiatus material, the band moved into ‘Sappho’. Despite the over a decade age difference in some of the songs, the ‘Rabbit Head’ heavy setlist integrated both new and old together perfectly, to create a journey through their musical evolution, whilst providing an excellently curated setlist for the night.

The connection between the band and their fans was palpable, which was made evermore special by the surrounding beauty laid out by The Koko which complemented the raw energy outputted by the band. The set came to the perfect conclusion with the final song ‘Hard Pill’ – the comeback track from the band’s hiatus. For one final time the crowd became a choir as they bounced around and released their last little dregs of energy creating the perfect end to a night that will be etched in the memories of both the band and their fans forever.