Miller Presents: RongoRongo @ Hus, Tithebarn Street 11/03/2017

Hus opened its doors last night to Mary Miller who hosted a variety of local and upcoming talent on Tithebarn Street.

Only the second full event to be put on by Hus, it had a great line up of acts on the bill with a mixture to suit everyone’s taste.

Kickstarting the night was frontman of Broom of the System, Julia LiPluma, leaving her band at home and only her guitar to hand, it was a bold move to fly solo to get the night going. At times, passionate and then able to draw the crowd in and create an intimacy between herself and the audience, it was a set that flowed with a breezy feel and was great to ease the way into the livelier acts that were to come.

Following up Julia’s set was the duo, To Eva, bringing synths and smooth beats to the basement of Hus. The powerful vocals of Emilie matched with the electronica sounds was captivating and had those in attendance completely entranced. The hypnotic performance drew out comparisons of The XX intwined with Massive Attack. Receiving lots of gratitude from the crowd, the humbled To Eva made the most of their short set and the fun they had on stage reflected back into the audience, raising everyones spirits even higher.

The host of the night took to centre-stage to bring her combination of catchy hooks and invigorating insturmentals that raised the roof causing the crowd to get quite rowdy as they were swept up by Mary Miller’s performance. Her striking set really gripped your attention and the emotions that her tracks invoked clearly resonated with the audience as the cheers grew louder each time Miller finished a song.

It was at this point that I thought that it didn’t feel like the artists performing before RongoRongo were supporting acts but that they were all performing like they were the headliners of their own shows. Those in attendance clearly loved each artist that took to the stage with the adoration as if they were the main act playing.

Hannah’s Little Sister were the first of the night to have a full band on display and their quirky performance was an enjoyable half hour of good old fashioned indie with moments to sing along to and creating an energy to get people dancing around the small venue. The Burnley outfit could be compared to The Big Moon, with tongue-in-cheek lyrics and upfront guitar play. As mentioned, the lively crowd were well up for last night’s showcase and couldn’t get enough of Hannah’s Little Sister, demanding an encore as they chanted “One more song”. The trio gave the fans what they wanted and stuck around to play one more song before making way for RongoRongo.

Last but definitely not least, as the six lads that make up RongoRongo crammed on to the small stage to round out what had been a stellar night of local artists showcasing their talents.

The night was ending on an intense note as the local lads brought a heavier set than the previous acts to Hus and wrapped that angsty feeling around those watching. The energy of frontman Jonny was a sight to behold, his showmanship similar of The National’s lead singer, Matt Berninger. Unable to be confined to the boundaries of the stage, he found himself spending a good part of the set amongst the crowd, dancing with members of the audience. At one point it seemed like he became overwhelmed and left the venue as his band played on. Of course he returned and topping off the performance by throwing his shoes into the air.

The music was edgy, intense and gripping, it was an electric performance, capping off a great night of local music in the fresh-faced venue of Hus.

The general consensus was that there was no one band in particular that people were there to see, they were there to enjoy good music and those on the line-up provided that and considering it was only £1 on the door, they gave well more than your money’s worth throughout the night.

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