It was a cold and dark November night in Exeter, DAYTIME TV were playing at The Cavern on their much postponed and humorously titled “The Tour That Will Absolutely Happen” Tour. It’s been a while since I’ve attended a gig ‘blind’, I don’t mean that I wore a bandana over my eyes all evening, that would have been a silly idea (especially with all of the steps leading down to the venue), I mean that I’d not had chance to check out the band ahead of the show. I’d received some promo on them including news of the new single and that they’re planning on dropping their debut album in February 2022 but being tied up with work and far too many live shows booked into the diary, I hadn’t had chance to sit and ‘research’ the band at all. It could have gone either way on the night, read on to see how I got on….

I arrived at the venue before opening time and chatted to a good friend Ed Tucker who has just formed a new band with Ollie Harris and Chris Tilke called BIG LAVA, I was pleasantly surprised when they said that they were opening for DAYTIME TV tonight as I had heard that they’d got a new band together but wasn’t aware as to when or where they were going to be popping their cherry on the live scene….

Just before 8pm, BIG LAVA took to the stage to perform their short but sweet set which comprised of some dirty, raw and gutsy alt-rock which shook the room and everyone stood in it. Their cover of ‘Strawberry Fields’ was unexpected but received really well, the super heavy riffs from ‘Thump Thump’ were lapped up and it was great to see that they were able to mix the heavy and deep with the lighter, more meaningful tracks easily. There were plenty of ‘faces’ pulled by Ollie, Ed was throwing his bass around like Lou Barlow from Dinosaur Jr and Chris Tilke sat back in the shadows, doing his drumming thing and keeping it all together perfectly. Ollie said before the show that he was nervous, he needn’t have been as their performance was incredible, definitely a band to look out for on the local scene in the future.

DAYTIME TV are a 4 piece alt rock outfit based in Edinburgh and London and were midway through their UK tour when they took to the stage of The Cavern to ply their wares. The tour had kicked off in Scotland and saw them playing at Murrayfield Stadium on the day of the Scotland vs Australia rugby match playing to 60000 fans ahead of the game (they’ll never get that may in The Cavern!) Other dates on the tour included Manchester, Bristol, Leeds and Bristol and a couple more dates after Exeter including OSLO in Hackney.

Tonight’s show was sold out and Will Irvine (vocals/guitar) mentioned during the set that it was the fastest venue to do so, proving that despite they’re based all the way up there in Edinburgh, they have a strong fanbase down in the darkest depths of the South West.

Riding high off the recent release of their latest track ‘Hush’, their set was in the fast lane from the start to the finish and previous incendiary singles ‘Communication, ‘Ugly’ and ‘Zombie’ which have taken over the airwaves of Kerrang! Radio, Amazing Radio and BBC Radio Scotland sounded immense performed live and garnered a wealth of voices singing along as the tracks rang out inside The Cavern.

The quality of musicianship on stage this evening far surpasses what I normally witness in small venues, the bass (Chris Clark) and drums (Gareth Thompson) were on point, these guys were very much the glue that held the whole thing together and it was great to see a real chemistry between them. The lead guitar did what it did very well but could have been a bit louder to showcase the talent of John Caddick, whilst the front man (Will Irvine) did a tremendous job on rhythm guitar and vocals, he had the audience eating out of his hand from the get go and this was great to see in a sea of bands that feel they are ‘above’ all the showmanship that they may feel has been lost in history, I assure you, it is very much alive and kicking, as demonstrated so well tonight in Exeter.

They describe their sound as ‘alt rock’ but I would add a hint of ‘power pop’ in the mix as well, their sound is captivating, pure, clean and very tight, proof that they have taken time during the lockdown period to really hone their craft and have most definitely ‘come out swinging’ to deliver the goods on their UK tour.

Having previously supported Two Door Cinema Club and played a knockout set at Glasgow’s TRNSMT Festival this year, these guys are no strangers to performing in front of a healthy crowd and if they carry on as they are, it won’t be long until they’re gracing the stages of arenas up and down the land. If you get the chance to catch them in an intimate venue, do so, as I said, it won’t be long until you won’t get the chance to do that anymore and that my friend, would be a crying shame.

Words and Pictures by Steve Muscutt