THE AMAZONS have been around for a long time now but it wasn’t until 2017 when their debut self-titled album landed that people started to truly notice them for their raw talent and ability to create stadium sized, anthemic bangers that would attract a huge fan base in next to no time.

I remember seeing them play at Boardmasters on the main stage, I was already aware of the band by this stage and to see them up there, doing what they love to do was incredible. 

Fast forward 5 years and here they are, 3 top ten studio albums under their belts, a killer stage show and even a beer, brewed in their honour and named ‘Bloodrush’, after their recently released single from their latest long player How Will I Know if Heaven Will Find Me?

After an incredible response to the 13 in-store shows up and down the country, we were invited to catch them at the O2 Academy in Bristol where they would be showcasing their new record as well as hits from their previous 2 albums which were responsible for winning the hearts of their followers.

Opening up the evening’s entertainment was femme quartet PRIMA QUEEN. The band formed when Louise Macphail and Kristin McFadden met in London on a course, since that day, they’ve gone on to support acts such as The Big Moon, Dream Wife and Wet Leg, amassing a solid fan base along the way. 

Drawing influence from industry heavyweights including Julia Jacklin, Nilüfer Yanya and Lucy Dacus, Prima Queen’s songs are naturally multi-layered and require attention to get the most out of them. They sing of incredible tension and release about the way your first heartbreak is the hardest to recover from, and the exploration of the deterioration of a loved one due to Alzheimer’s.

After a song about having sex ‘Eclipse’, they embarrassed their bass player (Kitty) by singing happy birthday and she even had a cake bought onstage and yes, she managed to blow out the candles in one go!

They warmed the room up nicely and left the stage to a huge reaction from the Bristol audience, definitely a band to keep an eye on in the future.

With the stage re-arranged and ready for the main act, the place fit to burst, it was finally time for The Amazons to take to the stage and do their thing.

They took to the stage and Matt shouted into the microphone, “It was great to see so many bands coming back to this post-Covid world and finally, it’s our time!”

Kicking off with the title track of their brand new album ‘How Will I Know if Heaven Will Find me’, the crowd, a mixture of die hard fans, students and youngsters transitioned into top gear and didn’t let up for the duration of the show, we saw circle pits, human pyramids and much to the annoyance of the security team, plenty of crowd surfers who would venture near the barrier only to be pulled back into the throng by fellow fans, creating an almost ‘cops n robbers’ scenario which was entertaining to watch.

‘Northern Star’ sounded sublime and is fast becoming a favourite on the live circuit, midway through the song, Matt asked the crowd to ‘light up Bristol’ and immediately, everyone’s mobile phones were whipped out with their lights on, creating a magical scene which no doubt looked fantastic from the stage. 

For ‘Night Driving’, the band huddled together at one side of the stage and performed the track with acoustic guitar, mandolin, harmonica and a tambourine and it sounded EPIC!

As the set drew to a close, heavyweight anthems such as ‘Stay With Me’ and ‘Junk Food Forever’ filled the room with joy and yet more antics from the very excitable audience who were thrilled to be here on a Wednesday night, watching their heroes!

After a brief moment away from the stage, they returned for a two song encore where they performed ‘Bloodrush’ which received a similar reaction as their earlier work and ended with ‘Black Magic’ which literally shook the foundations of the O2 Academy.

On very rare occasions, you leave a gig feeling revitalised, energised and ready to take on the world, tonight was one of these nights! 

Words and Pictures by Steve Muscutt

Setlist

How Will I Know if Heaven Will Find Me?

Ready for Something

Ultraviolet

25

In The Morning

There’s a Light

In My Mind

One by One

Say it Again

Northern Star

Wait for Me

Doubt It

Mother

Night Driving

Stay With Me

Junk Food Forever

Bloodrush

Black Magic