NOAH AND THE LONERS + THE Q-DAYS – CELLAR BAR, THE BRUNSWICK, HOVE 9.11.22
Punk teens Noah And The Loners are fronted by 18 year old singer songwriter Noah Lonergan on vocals and guitar, with Amber Welsh on bass, Joseph Boyle on guitar and Noah Riley on drums. Noah and the Loners have something to say and they’re saying it loud. Their powerful songs capture the zeitgeist of Gen Z – from personal tracks on teenage love and Noah’s experience of toxic masculinity as a trans man, to political blasts at racism, corruption and the climate crisis. The band’s sound is influenced by X-Ray Spex, The Clash and Buzzcocks, along with the alternative stylings of IDLES, Paramore and Frank Carter & the Rattlesnakes.
Noah has been singing since he could talk and first picked up a guitar when he was eleven. He started gigging with his schoolmates a couple of years later, and his and bassist Amber’s first band ‘Polarized Eyes’ gained national airplay on Tom Robinson’s BBC Introducing Mixtape on 6Music, when they were just fourteen. Subsequent tracks gained stellar reviews and radio play on the likes of BBC Radio 1, Radio X, BBC 6Music and Amazing Radio. Noah And The Loners are the youngest artists ever to be signed to Marshall Records and have released their compact ‘Teenage Tragedy’ single.
Noah and the Loners’ live shows are full of fire and fury, forged in iconic venues from London’s Dublin Castle and O2 Academy Islington to Liverpool Sound City. Standing politely in the corner watching the band play is NOT an option. I’ve heard that folks at their gigs go nuts and so we have made the trip across to The Brunswick on Holland Road to find out the score.
First up though are a trio of sets by BIMM students who are showcasing three of their tunes. All of these went down well with the students attending. After which, it’s the turn of ‘rock band’ The Q-Days, who have very recently relocated from Southend-on-Sea to Brighton. Tonight was their premier Brighton & Hove concert. They consist of a trio of BIMM Brighton students, Zac (vocals, guitar), Zack (bass) and Ash (guitar) as well as Ryan (drums) who is studying Architecture at Kingston. The band has been together for about 3 years since secondary school. They haven’t released any music as yet, but will be dropping a single very early next year. Their influences would be artists like DMA’s, Sam Fender and Oasis.
The Q-Days were showcasing a handful of their own tunes in a set that lasted 28 minutes, from 8:45pm to 9:13pm.
The first number ‘Underboard’, would go down well in the deepest South of the USA. Already after this one tune you can sense that they are a tight unit. Song two was ‘Take You Away’ which was a heavier number in parts and those heavy parts are reminiscent of The Who’s ‘My Generation’. ‘Fool For You’ was up next and the best tune thus far. It’s certainly single material. In fact, the penultimate number ‘Stuck In The Sky With You’ was equally as good. They concluded with ‘Close Your Eyes’, which was a rocker and on an equal par with the previous couple of songs. It will be interesting to see where The Q-Days go from here.
The Q-Days:
Zac – vocals, guitar
Zack – bass
Ash – guitar
Ryan – drums
The Q-Days setlist:
‘Underboard’
‘Take You Away’
‘Fool For You’
‘Stuck In The Sky With You’
‘Close Your Eyes’
It was now time for the new kidz in town, Noah And The Loners, to show us what they have got in their locker! Their set consisted of ten original compositions, as well as a surprise cover tune as an encore. Their energetic set ran from 9:33pm to 10:08pm and despite living here for a month and a half now, this was their debut Brighton performance for these BIMM students.
We are here tonight as we encountered Noah on stage with Bob Vylan at their ‘Mutations Festival’ show last Sunday (Review HERE), and were immediately taken by Noah’s confidence and tonight was flagged up by him during the performance. You know, sometimes you take a punt having never heard a band, well Noah And The Loners are one such act.
Like everyone else that has been performing here this evening, this quartet are young and finding their way in the world and following their dreams, and why not I say. The band consists of Noah Lonergan (vocals, guitar), Amber Welsh (bass, backing vocals), Joseph Boyle (guitar, occasional backing vocals), and Noah Riley (drums). You can immediately sense that this outfit has something new and refreshing to offer in a sometimes stagnant world of punk.
First up from Noah And The Loners is ‘Just Kids’, which is nice ‘n’ fast, as is the following number, ‘Crash Landing’. Next up was ‘Garden Camping’, which I reckon is their playful tune, as it’s a tale of the quartet camping in bassist Amber’s garden. Many of the others address their lives and how others are affecting them. ‘Inferno’ is song four and their best so far.
These teenagers are developing into their own individual people and Noah informs us that he is “a trans man”. This subject was addressed during track seven, ‘Real Boys’, which featured some great guitar work from Joseph, it was another corker of a track.. Prior to this they performed their “country punk” number, ‘You Make Me (Fall Apart)’, which featured some decent backing vocals by Amber, and before that was ‘Inferno’.
Track eight was ‘Losing My Head’, and featured chants by both Amber and Joseph, to compliment vocalist Noah’s shouty delivery. This, more than any other of their songs this evening, I would suggest, would go down the best if (hopefully when) they play the Rebellion punk festival in Blackpool – new blood and all that! ‘Losing My Head’ ran megamix style straight into ‘Protest Anger’. Their set (so we thought) was ending with their catchy new single, ‘Teenage Tragedy’, with its “na na na na na na na” chorus.
The audience wanted more and the band had a discussion. I suspected that they had already performed all of their self-penned material, and thus, the answer was to perform a cover version, that being Arctic Monkeys earworm ‘I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor’. I was expecting this to be ragged, as it was thrown on them, but it was none of the sort, it was a fantastic rendition! I wonder what else they have been rehearsing?
Here is a band that are the next wave in town, following in the wake of the likes of The Lambrini Girls and Monakis. They are a tight quartet and must keep at it as they are great. Noah had enough charisma to fill the whole cellar, which is a special gift that needs to be nurtured. A must see live band for punks of all ages!
Noah And The Loners:
Noah Lonergan – vocals, guitar,
Amber Welsh – bass, backing vocals
Joseph Boyle – guitar
Noah Riley – drums
Noah And The Loners setlist:
‘Just Kids’
‘Crash Landing’
‘Garden Camping’
‘Inferno’
‘About Him’
‘You Make Me (Fall Apart)’
‘Real Boys’
‘Losing My Head’
‘Protest Anger’
‘Teenage Tragedy’
(encore)
‘I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor’ (Arctic Monkeys cover)
www.instagram.com/noahandtheloners
Congratulations to Andy and the team at BIMM for organizing this event.
It really helps get the students out there in front of crowds and builds the artists confidence, to learn from any mistakes, to hone in their musical niche, and to learn how the often cutthroat industry works.
Want to find out more about BIMM Brighton? Then visit www.bimm.ac.uk/brighton
