Cardiff University’s Live Music Society presented an exciting event at Clwb Ifor Bach on Tuesday night. The atmosphere certainly lived up to every claim from Gene Gallagher, frontman of the rock trio Villanelle, a band that has sold out their tour and supported Liam Gallagher’s 30th anniversary tour. Having only released one single, ‘Hinge’, which made its debut on the 10th of September, their family ties have already gained them significant attention.
Born into pop and rock royalty, with Nicole Appleton (All Saints) as his mum and Liam Gallagher of Oasis as his dad, the lingering question of the night remained: could Gene, alongside bandmates Ben Taylor (guitar) and Jack Schiavo (bass), be able to forge their own mark on rock music? Or would he always be seen as just “Liam’s kid”. “No one really knows any of our songs. Everyone’s just watching and working it out.
They eventually all go crazy and let loose.” We had the pleasure of speaking with Gene, Ben and Jack, who shared the hope that their set would leave the audience with their songs “ringing in their ears”. Headlining the gig in Clwb Ifor Bach proved to be an exciting moment for the band, as they highlighted the enjoyability of playing in more intimate venues, due to the dynamic energy of smaller stages, allowing them to interact with each other and the crowd more closely. They claimed that success for them is simply enjoying the music that they play, with Ben joking that his goal is to just ‘’get someone to unpack my guitar for me’’ As Villanelle began their set, it was clear that Gene’s musical style stands in sharp contrast to his dad’s.
Leaning into heavier sounds, Villanelle took inspiration from the shoegaze grunge scene, Taylor previously telling NME they “wanted to bring something back”, believing that there is a gap for heavier guitar music in the current scene. With gritty lyrics about ‘sleepless nights’, the band tap into an alternative rock, grunge spirit that feels new and fresh, each of the trio bringing their own unique sound to the band. Despite having only a single to their name, Villanelle proved their knack for captivating an audience with their unreleased material; Measly Means, Opportunity Arising, Natural Stereo, Lazy, Logos, and Pretty One - with some fans even knowing the lyrics, to our surprise.
The band later told us that one fan even burned a CD of their unreleased music, desperate for more of Villanelle, “we’re not chasing an audience”, these fans are discovering Villanelle organically through these grassroot venues. Hinge is their most popular song of the night. As the opening chords of the distorted guitar commanded the audience’s attention, everyone came alive as the band launched into the first lyric: “Sat in the bathroom and with the flash of the lightning”.
Villanelle shared the stage with Florentenes, a similarly vibrant force, alongside support from two LMS student bands: Knitted Jumper and H & the band. Both student bands added greatly to the atmosphere of the night with each musician bringing a different vibe to create two thrilling indie rock sets, encouraging budding musicians to “just do it”. Particularly impressive were the vocals from Heera, lead singer of H & the Band.
The individuality of each act’s music style came together to create a memorable night, reminding everyone of the importance of grassroots music venues for supporting emerging artists and bands, providing opportunities to share their music and reach new listeners. Spotlight Editors