For a while now, the good folk at Phoenix Sounds in the heart of Newton Abbot (THE best indie record store in the SouthWest in my opinion) have been showcasing up and coming local talent from South Devon and surrounding areas as part of their ‘#PhoenixSoundsLive’ initiative.

Today saw the turn of a Torbay based indie quartet called THE VIVE and having been briefly introduced to them after their set at this year’s Boardmasters Festival, I was keen to see them in action.

I have seen many bands performing at record shops all over the place, promoting albums and tours and whilst these are great places to reach out to people who love music, some have fallen rather flat, nobody watching and the staff clapping and whooping extra loudly after every song to fill the silence. Fortunately, with the amount of advertising in the shop and via their social media channels, there was a palpable buzz surrounding the Newton Abbot shop ahead of today’s performance.

As I approached the end of Queen Street, I could hear the band in full flow, belting out an OASIS cover of ‘Cigarettes and Alcohol’, maybe they had started 15 mins early or maybe it was a sound check, luckily for me, it was the latter!

Bang on 1:30pm, they took to the floor and knocked out a set that was easily on par with an established band playing a show in a full blown venue. Mixed in with some hearty covers of bands including The Who, Kasabian, Arctic Monkeys and Oasis, were a number of their own songs which sounded tight, well executed and robust enough to get the audience interested. As the time wore on, people poked their heads in the shop to see what was going on, many stayed for a couple of songs and really enjoyed their performance.

Chatting to the lads after their set, it was clear that they really enjoyed the experience and were not phased by the fact that there was a huge crowd at the entrance to the store as they were playing. They were keen to pack up and go as they had been invited to play at another event in Exeter later in the day, hopefully to an audience who were as hungry as they were at Phoenix Sounds and keen to see this band in the early stages of what I honestly think will be something massive.

I think back to the late 90’s when MUSE played at SOLO Records in Exeter’s Guildhall and whilst they might have had a bigger following at the time, the experience was much the same. I really look up to anyone with the confidence to stand up in front of a crowd of people and do what they love, THE VIVE clearly love what they do and their on stage chemistry was immense, these guys may only be cutting their teeth but it won’t be long until they’re well on their way to bigger and better things, well done chaps, very well done indeed!

Review by Steve Muscutt