Our Indie Band Era
Above: Felix Ross at The Waiting Room – 6/8/24
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About a month ago, Shannon came across a tiktok advertising someone called Felix Ross’s gig at The Waiting Room in Stoke Newington. It was only £10 and close by so we got tickets.
We went to the show this past Saturday and it was honestly so fun – surprisingly so, and very much worth what we paid and more.
We saw 3 acts: Hamish Donald (opener – an indie singer with catchy songs), Woon (opener – more of a wild rock band), and Felix Ross (headliner – another indie singer with catchy songs, but also a full band, which sweetly includes his younger brother).
The venue was small and intimate, with ambient lighting and a small bar at the back of the room. The crowd was younger and seemed much more familiar with the acts, but we were pleasantly surprised by everything we heard, with each act offering something different (mellow, indie tunes; harder, wilder bangers; and then something in between those two things, catchy and upbeat but not screaming and thrashing).
We swayed and bopped to all the rhythms in the dark light, alternately turning to each other and saying “This is honestly so fun,” and “I can’t believe this was only £10.”
It was really hot though, so in between Woon and Felix, we stepped outside for some air in the smoking area and ended up talking to Hamish. I told him he did a great job and that he was a talented lyricist, and he seemed to take the compliment sincerely to heart, saying compliments about his lyrics are his favourite.
I thought it was going to be a short, kind of passing interaction, but he ended up talking to us for a while, telling us about himself and his music, asking us about ourselves and how we knew each other and came to know about the gig.
The beauty about these smaller, more intimate shows is that there’s such a good chance of being able to interact with the artists, while they’re at a point where they actually enjoy being immersed with their fledgling fans.
At one point, Felix came down from the stage and played an acoustic song in the middle of crowd and it was really cute. Later he would post a video of that part of the performance commenting that it was really special.
When it was over, we debated whether or not we should stay and try to hang out with the bands, or immediately go home and watch “Challengers”. We chose the latter (arguably coming to later regret it), stopping by Eden’s Cottage for some chicken wings on the way home.
Honestly, part of me simply didn’t want to be one in the crowd of several young women, pining away for the attention of these artists who were in all likelihood several years younger than me.
Nonetheless, Shannon and I decided we should go to more of these shows because they’re so affordable and we had such a great time (she’s been playing Hamish and Felix’s music since), and next time, we’ll stay.
