If you’ve heard their demos and seen them on YouTube, forget everything you know about Jordan Allen - you haven’t heard them properly until you’ve seen them live.
This is what is great about The Cellar; whilst waiting for a band to start they’re most likely already in the crowd with you. Called up for their set, the four-piece from Bolton took to the stage - nothing out of the ordinary. Then they started playing.
The songs all have an underlying ‘teenage dream’ element to them, - adolescent tales (the usual suspects) - which works really well with the band’s well-crafted indie sound. But there was nothing ‘teenage’ or ‘adolescent‘ about their gig.
From start to finish Jordan Allen gave a really polished performance which simaltaneously was executed like organised chaos - the front trio thrashed about the stage and broke the threshold between themselves and the crowd. Their immersive conduct kept all eyes up front and on them.
Leading the band was Jordan Allen himself who vocally ignited the songs with both coarse and playful twangs, backed by captivating and tenacious chordal riffs. Their sound and lyrics are incredibly slick, carried out with an undeniable charm and Northern swagger, but seeing them live enabled them to break into something more raw which went hand in hand with their relentless energy.
The Cellar itself wasn’t full, but the band played to the crowd as if it was a sold-out show at an O2 Academy - they fullfilled everything expected from an indie band: sweaty and bang tidy. Most impressively despite being a relatively a young band, Jordan Allen completely took control of their stage, and the audience - the lads had The Cellar in the palm of their hands - as they belted out their set list which included Helter Skelter, 110 Ways to Make Things Better, and their lastest, and catchiest, track R.O.S.I.E. By the end of their set Jordan Allen had The Cellar all riled up proving themselves to be a hard act for a lot of bands to follow.
I liked Jordan Allen when I had a listen to their music on SoundCloud, but I became a fan of theirs after seeing them perform live - they absolutely smashed their set.
For further information, and tour dates, visit www.jordan-allen.com