bedpost. at Network, 29 January
This February during Independent Venues Week I caught bedpost.'s set at Network, a new venue at DINA in collaboration with Record Junkee. I went from standing in a packed train carriage on the way to Sheffield to an equally busy upstairs venue, and I was so grateful to be in the latter. bedpost. supported Roam at the sold out gig but it was clear bedpost. had a solid crowd of their own waiting to see them, home-made signs and all.
bedpost.'s opening song set the tone for their set - punching drums and rhythms, lifted with delicate lead guitar, and lyrics that immediately stuck in your head. 'Dead Dog', a song as emotional as it sounds, starts steadily, drawing in the crowd with slow, echoing vocals. It builds, then bedpost. hit us with a charged and heavy breakdown, explosive like an emotional release that's been kept in too long. I could see it in the band and the crowd as we all moved in time.
Vocals ranged from strong and slow to shouts and screams, as well as breath-catching whispers
Songs like 'Her' are made to bounce around to, with a bass line and rhythm that fit together better than punk and Doc Martens. It's fast and bursting with feeling, contrasted with moments of reflection, guitar riffs and short drum solos slipped in between lyrics. 'Numb Comfortable' and 'B.Y.O.T.' bring a heavier sound to the room, while still impressing the crowd with cleverly written melodies. Vocals ranged from strong and slow to shouts and screams, as well as breath-catching whispers. There were build-ups, breakdowns, fast intros and moving outros.
Among all the emotion there was humour too - the song 'Nigella' was upbeat and hilarious, but just as great sounding as the rest of the set. It can be easy to get carried away by a gig like that - every song pulls you in so far that you forget there will be a last one at some point. But before their finale, 'Just Replace', we were given a little moment. Guitarist Adam played a chilled melody as frontman Tom asked us to close our eyes for a second, notice where we were in the room, and take a breath together. Even with the buzzing atmosphere, the crowd were brought back into the moment for the emotional final song. The cleverly layered riffs played by Adam and second guitarist Josh built up to a shout, then fell to a whisper: "fade away, just replace."
