In October, I wrote a post about a new buzz band from The Wirral by the name of The Mysterines. They had just dropped one hell of a debut single called ‘Hormone‘. Since then, they’ve been busy touring the UK putting the rest of their repertoire on show. The final night of tour was, of course, the homecoming. On Saturday 15th, The trio were back on Merseyside headlining Liverpool‘s famous Zanzibar Club.
The Seel Street venue was sold out for The Mysterines but it was a night of top local talent with two great Scouse bands supporting.
With the headliners not scheduled to play until at least 10 o’clock, The Zanzibar was almost packed out by the time local lads Shards took to the stage at 8. The four-piece, led by singer and guitarists Alex McKenzie played an impressive set of indie pop tunes.
Smooth vocals and shimmering guitars are the magic formula for the majority of the band’s live repertoire and seemed to cast a spell on their captivated audience. Shards’ single ‘Reflections‘, released earlier this year, is reminiscent of early Swim Deep material and took me back to 2013 when I became obsessed with the Birmingham band’s debut album ‘Where The Heaven Are We’.
https://www.facebook.com/shardslive/
Next up was locally-based five-piece Monks, who were recently confirmed in the line-up for next year’s Sound City festival. The band, fronted by George Pomford, played a set of dreamy psych-inspired indie songs with a dash of jazz added for good measure by Joe Fay’s trumpet.
Recent single ‘Sundried‘ and brass-led ‘Dreamboat‘ were the highlights of the set for me. I’ll be sure to catch Monks when I cover Sound City next May and would urge anyone not to miss them if you get the opportunity.
https://www.facebook.com/monksband/
Late into the evening, around quarter past 10, The Mysterines hit the stage for the main event. With singer and guitarist Lia Metcalfe and bassist George Favager kitted out in blazers and trousers, the trio got stuck straight in.
I had high expectations for this band after seeing them get hyped up by some reliable sources. I had only previously heard the debut single ‘Hormone‘ and snippets of live videos here and there, but was impressed by the strength and depth of The Mysterines’ material in this fairly lengthy performance.
A mosh pit formed in a rowdy section of the crowd near the stage a couple of songs in and the band seemed to feed off the crowd’s energy as Lia and George thrashed their heads to the beat with hair draped across their faces.
Drummer Chrissy Moore was impressive throughout, particularly when carrying the driving beat of The Mysterines’ big track ‘Hormone’. It’s a massive song for a young band’s debut and it clearly brought in the crowds that night at The Zanzibar. A cheer went up in the sold out venue as soon as Lia introduced it.
The Wirral natives brought the curtain down with the explosive ‘Gasoline‘. “I just love to hate you!” Lia repeatedly snarls in the chorus to the soundtrack of a barreling bassline. In a whir of reverb, the homecoming show and the tour comes to an end and The Mysterines exit to well-deserved applause.
Trackdose 
Good bands, good songs. I just wish I lived on Merseyside and was a few decades younger!
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The Mysterines just finished a big tour all over the UK. Possibly tours for Monks and Shards in 2019?
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