The Howlers + Carpark + Blame Caesar, Bedford Esquires, Thursday, 26 February
It might be a typical rainy February evening in Britain outside, but the punters inside Bedford Esquires for The Howlers gig are feeling like cowboys in a Texan ranch as the band brings their desert rock to town.
Opening up the gig was Blame Caesar, an emerging indie rock five-piece, hailing from Bedfordshire. The band, who previously supported Toploader in London, delivered a diverse-sounding set, ranging from the indie folk track “Chrysalis” to a more classic rock sound in “Break Apart.”
An exciting and slightly unexpected moment of their set was their cover, which was a mash-up of The Prodigy’s “Omen” and Justice and Simian’s “We Are Your Friends.” The mash-up was delivered with strong musicianship and brought the energy to the room.
Throughout the set, frontman Joe Cullen’s powerful vocals reminded me of the pop punk sounds of the lead singer of Fall Out Boy, Patrick Stump, mixed with the raspiness of Rag N Bone Man.
Overall, they delivered a great set which ended with the crowd waving their hands in the air to their track “If You Still Love Me.”
Next up were Carpark, which, as the band admitted, is a somewhat difficult band name to Google.
The all-female pop-rock three-piece opened up their set with immediate ferocity with their track “Blow Me Outta The Water.”
Don’t let lead singer Scottie’s sugary sweet vocals fool you, this band pack a punch! Thrashing 90’s grunge guitar sounds featured throughout the set in tracks such as “MIA” and a mash up of their track “The World Ended in 2012” with t.A.T.u.’s “All The Things She Said.”
A highlight of the set was “Happy on Mars”, which was a break from the other high-energy songs, but this dreamy-sounding track could easily become a lighters-in-the-air song at future gigs.
This was the band’s first time in Bedford, but I feel like their sound and energy would fit perfectly on the lineup for one of Esquires’ new music all-day events, Ceremony.
I’m sure I’m not the only one in the crowd who would love to see them back in the venue.
Finally, it was time for our headliners, The Howlers. The East London band are no strangers to Esquires, having previously played here supporting Black Honey in 2023, then again, headlining their own show in 2024, and they were clearly pleased to see fans returning to see them again.
The Howlers opened their set with their recent single, and my personal favourite track of theirs, “Night Crawling.”
There was no howling on this track, as it was delivered with a sultry purr over heavy riffs, as lead singer and guitarist Adam swished his guitar around the stage and kicked his legs in the air for good measure.
The set featured numerous new songs from their upcoming second album, which is expected to be released in October, including the tracks “Heavy”, “Viper” and “Late Nights”.
A number of these new tracks reminded me of the stomping swagger of Arctic Monkeys’ album “AM”, and latest single “You Can Be So Cruel,” in particular, reminded me of the cool questioning of “Why Do You Only Call Me When You’re High?”.
This is a departure from the desert rock sound of their debut album, “What You’ve Got to Lose to Win it All”, and ensured the set had a mixed sound.
However, the band didn’t forget to also play fan favourites, and the upbeat track “Lady Luck” had the crowd’s heads nodding with its catchy refrain of “la la la la la, oh oh oh”.
Despite only being a duo, the pair sounded like a much bigger band with their powerful rock sound, and “How Long” proved a hit with the crowd, with them putting their hands up in the air to clap along to the tune.
Now, it is hard work playing on stage under the hot lights, especially when you are giving it your all, but this wasn’t the only reason the band was sweating tonight.
The band mentioned their trip to local restaurant, Deshi Spice, for a tasty curry before the show, and said this was probably contributing to their heat levels.
According to Adam the band’s drummer, Toby’s eyelids were sweating as he selected the hottest meal Deshi Spice had to offer, and even the staff checked he was OK and offered him milk.
However, it was a glowing review from them for the restaurant, but just make sure you select a meal that is appropriate to your spice levels if you go!
The band closed their set with “El Dorado”, which is sadly not about Paddington Bear searching for this mythical city in the film “Paddington in Peru” (however, that would make an interesting song for any budding artists reading this…).
The track delivered the band’s final hit of cowboy cool swagger to the crowd, who responded with big cheers and applause. Next time the band returns to the venue, I’ll be sure to wear my cowboy hat.
