Hey Rosetta! played a great support set

Rare FM’s fetish for all things Canadian continues with a trip to The Queen Of Hoxton. More used to playing sold out festivals and huge venues, the young and immensely talented Spiral Beach and Polaris shortlisted Hey Rosetta! openly admit that it’s odd to be playing such a small room. But the show must go on, and it sure does.

After a dismal, lacklustre and wholly uninspiring set from an unnamed shambles of a London band, Hey Rosetta! take to the stage to show us exactly how it should be done. Their strings section, slow builds and anthemic vocals make it all too easy to compare Hey Rosetta! to the likes of The Arcade Fire or The Young Republic, but their sound has a different edge. We’re not saying it's better or worse, just different. A good bit of folk sensibility and a hint of rock alongside a very generous splash of virtuoso performances make Hey Rosetta’s! set truly electric.

Spiral Beach converted many to the Canadian way

Next to take the stage are twee-core surf-rockers Spiral Beach. Looking like a bunch of school kids from a garage-band they soon burst into a whole set of dancetastic electro glitch-pop tunes. Soon enough we realise this is no garage-band. The total synchronisation of music and movement really shows off the chemistry of these old school friends. The on-stage antics of vocalists Maddy Wilde and Airick Woodhead even got the overworked city boys of Hoxton popping shapes by the bar.

Performing songs from recently released album The Only Really Thing (Canada only), Spiral Beach load us up with surf guitar, twinkly keys and a good old blast of hyperactivity. The most impressive thing is that their energetic performance manages to look frantic while they maintain total togetherness and control in their music. We certainly won’t be underestimating these young’uns again!

Keep an eye out for the latest Rare FM session with Hey Rosetta! later on in the week. You can take a peek at Spiral Beach's Myspace here and Hey Rosetta's! here. If you like what you see, Hey Rosetta! will be performing at The Borderline on Friday 27th November.

Words and Pictures by Jonathan Wilson