Black Moth at Hoxton Square Bar & Kitchen, London - live review

Things are going well for Black Moth. Performing to a full and willing crowd, new guitarist Frederica Gialanze provides a steady mix of doomy riffs and psychedelic wig-outs while frontwoman Harriet Bevan leads the band with a controlled swagger. Then, four songs in, drummer Dom McCready “explodes” his snare drum, leading the band to call a sharp halt. It’s a setback they struggle to recover from. The second half of the set lacks definition, with the nuances lost to muddy sound. That said, it’s difficult for a band to be boring when fronted by someone as charismatic as Harriet, and then there’s the gleeful double-axenoodling, the synchronisedheadbanging and the fan-favourite Looner made all the more special by the author of the poem which inspired it being here tonight. Anyone can have a bad night; not everyone can battle through it with the crowd still onside. That Black Moth manage it with breezy aplomb is further proof as to why they’re a firm underground favourite.