Zoophyte’s choice of venue to launch their album turned out to be an inspired one because it housed a stellar crowd.
A thoroughly enthusiastic audience packed in tightly into Ding Dong Lounge to see the homegrown band tear through tracks from their recently record Somewhere Elsewhere.
Although to be expected from an album launch, with a sheer number of family and friends present, the room was still remarkably on side, even before the get go.
Even during the sound check, only minutes before the band reappeared onstage, the audience’s anticipation was palpable.
Frontman Cam Lee and the band got things underway with ‘Time’, a non-album track, which got the crowd hooked and paying attention early on.
It didn’t take long for punters to get a taste of the new album live when they launched into ‘Early Mourning’ which prompted an impressive reception and led to the band asking everyone who were enjoying it to come forward, which everyone did.
This prompted people of a wide age range happily dancing near the stage with wondrous abandon.
While a coherent set that contained it’s fair share of ball-tearing guitar riffs and drum solos, some softer cuts were included that the excitable audience clearly enjoyed despite the change in tempo.
‘Fit You’ was a stand out of the slower songs, prompting a sing-along, and even those who didn’t appear to know the words before the song was played participated.
As the gig wore on it became more and more apparent – if you hadn’t already seen them live – just how good Lee is at creating a thread from the band to the audience to make them feel involved and allowing both the chance to feed off each other, unlike so many run-of-the-mill concerts.
Undoubtedly one of the highlights of the evening was the group’s cover of ‘I Put A Spell On You’ by Creedence Clearwater Revival, which went down a treat with the older attendees and surprisingly well with the younger crowd too, even if it appeared that most didn’t know the song.
Sometimes part-member of the band, Andy Lee of TV and radio fame joined his brother and bandmates onstage a couple of times to show off his trumpet and guitar chops whilst also adding enthusiastic vocals.
Zoophyte finished off what should have been the regular set with the epic journey of a song ‘Crusaders’.
Lee stated that they couldn’t be bothered leaving the stage only to come back on in a minute so they launched straight into their remaining three songs.
The first being ‘Let You Go’, which has certainly been their best performing song so far since it’s release in April.
It also, not surprisingly, got the best reaction from an adoring crowd and was an appropriate summation of the overall feeling of an entertaining and fun evening created by a great live act.
