I'm unsure why I've never been to a show at Bristol's famous venue The Louisiana...I can't even say I've ever seen it before when I've been up for work, anyway, I'm here. it's very nice and after the lovely bar lady conjured ne a hot chocolate to warm up after my ‘al fresco’ loaded fries on the waterfront, I was a little warmer and ready for action. Who knows, I might even partake in a pint later on….

The venue has played host to a number of great acts who found themselves playing the smaller venue circuit previously, these include Florence + The Machine, Dua Lipa, MUSE, The Super Furries and even The White Stripes which was incredible to know.

Tonight sees future indie music star Anna Erhard playing to the Bristol massive and riding high from the airplay received from 6 music and no doubt other national stations for her latest track '170', the excitement was palpable.

I met Anna briefly whilst she was setting up her merch table near the bar and we chatted about her opening night (last night) at The Grace in the heart of Islington, she said it was a great show and hopes that the rest of the tour will match up to it, only time will tell!

Support tonight came in the form of melodiesinfonie whom I'm not familiar with but after a quick jaunt around the socials, I established he’s is a young jazz, soul, hip hop and electronica producer from Zurich, I guess you could call it a foreign invasion but that sounds too much like a conflict, which I hope it won't be! He was joined by a trio going by the name ‘The Sugarpies’ which is a great name and they were IMMENSE, 2 guitars and a bass performed some super tight jams for all to enjoy.

They proceeded to churn out a set, chock full of jazzy grooves, dripping in reverb and memories of the long, hot summer. one untitled track managed to fade to silence as if it was a 7 inch single coming to a gradual end. Their sound was tight, focussed, making it easy to home in on each instrument which never bled into the other instruments on stage and allowed everyone to grab the spotlight during the show. Whilst the set was formed of jazzy, soulful numbers, there were a couple that allowed a gritty, more abrasive guitar to come through, giving it an almost desert noir feel.

‘Doobie Woobie’ (at least I think it was called that) saw the wah-wah pedal put through it's paces... coupled with tight bass and drums it sounded bright and lively whilst the other guitar played a heavily warped jazzy chord progression, crazy as it sounds, it worked perfectly with its almost dub reggae bassline and ‘rat-a-tat’ rim shots coming at us courtesy of the drumkit. An unreleased track called ‘Darling’, which is out next year, was a sublime instrumental, full of funk and wah pedal and so much groove.

I've not seen a band with so much ‘on stage chemistry’ in a long time and I'm sure they'll go on to win the hearts of many more people throughout the remainder of their UK dates.

The Anna Erhard trio (I know, she goes by her own name but I think this makes her sound much more grand) performed a killer set which I branded ‘tight slacker rock’, does this genre exist? If not, I might patent it as I think that it sums up her sound perfectly which was brimming with wonky, off kilter sounds, electronic backing and a killer rhythm section. I attended as a curious outsider and left a fan, keen to hear more.

Showcasing a new track called ‘Botanical Garden’ (I had written ‘Pinnacle Garden’ in my notes which made zero sense to me!), this sounded brighter, more melodic, less wonky but still utterly captivating.

With Anna on guitar, vocals and a small looking keyboard device, her bass player and drummer, they looked relaxed, cool and ready to take on the world and the sound was incredible, such a rounded output from the three of them was off the scale! With the recorded backing track, I wondered what her live set would sound like with a keyboard player who might be able to take over the controls from Anna but as it was, I really couldn’t fault anything.

I was infatuated by Anna’s guitars, more Eastern European 1980’s high street store than the Fender Roadworn series which, whilst they looked simple, sounded immense with the myriad guitar pedals that she had at her disposal. How long she has worked at honing her sound is beyond me but I am SO glad that she has spent the time as it sounded immense!

As the set wore on, we were treated to a plethora of elastic, hypnotic grooves which swirled around the room like an incense stick, seeping into the ears of everyone and infecting them with a dose of sonic Covid, the kind you actually want to catch!

‘Guestroom’ kicked off with the line that piqued my interest in Anna’s music, “I write secret messages and hide them at festivals”, I can imagine them being a perfect festival band, especially at the Green Man event where they would fit in perfectly with the laid back vibe. 

‘3 Tons of Steel’ was a song about the boat she used to own, she sounded sad when she said it was no longer around but a wry smile broke out across her face as she said that it wasn't the right one for her! This track was delivered at a much slower, relaxed pace but still with her trademark wonkiness bubbling under, waiting to be unleashed again.

Her latest offering ‘170’ was presented alongside its dreamlike groove, if that bass was any slicker, it would be a snake, I swear, it sounded like it was dripping wet, so fucking good! It ended with a proper unholy racket, made up of squealing guitar whilst the bass and drums just about managed to hold things together, keeping the Erhard Express on the rails.

‘Campsite’ conjured images of a teenage summer break, “I used to get compliments for my tanlines” was a superb line and something that I rarely used to be praised for when I worked at a holiday camp during my youth, if anything, my ‘white bits’ used to scare the opposite sex away but that’s a story for another time!

They closed the set with ‘Picnic at the Seaside’, which kicked off sounding like a classic indie pop tune minus the on stage go go dancers and morphed into a grunge heavy number before reverting back to its Chuck Berry styled verses before it all came crashing together again.

Anna’s lyrics really come to life when presented live in an intimate venue, they really land in different places when sung just two yards away from your ears and watching her facial expressions, you can see what is meant as ‘tongue in cheek’ and what she wants to get across in a more serious way, this is something that you may miss listening to her recorded music only so I urge you to get out and see her live to get the full experience.

After an unexpected 2 track encore (99% of bands do them, but after ‘Picnic’ it seemed like the right time to switch on the lights and play some background music whilst the masses shuffled out), the crowd were truly satisfied, the band left the stage to take up positions at the merch table to chat to the gig goers and drink the rider dry until it was throwing out time. I was torn between which of the 2 albums Anna had for sale, so I bought them both (as you do!)

Catch Anna Erhard on the remainder of her UK dates;

23.09.2023 UK - Manchester, The Lounge
24.09.2023 UK - Glasgow, The Hug and Pint
25.09.2023 UK - Leeds, The Brudenell
27.09.2023 UK - Stowmarket, John Peel Centre
28.09.2023 UK - Southampton, Heartbreakers
30.09.2023 UK - St Leonards On Sea, Kino-Teatr

Review by Steve Muscutt & Matt Barnes