Review: Model Morning + Crosa Rosa – The Chameleon – 11 July 2014

In recent years, a variety of Nottingham acts have faded away, only to be replaced by up and coming acts, climbing the ever-growing competitive ladder in the music industry, trying to prove themselves amongst their fellow competitors. Every once in a while though, a once popular band or group of artists will stop by and show their hometown what they had missed. This is exactly what this night was about; it was about the reunion of Model Morning. It had been 6 years since their last performance, which seemed like yesterday to many of us.

CROSA ROSE, a hometown grunge trio were first to play – as many of us had made our journey to the venue in anticipation for the headline act, most were unaware of the band – but it is certainly guaranteed that by the end of their set they had gained quite a few new followers of their music. Consisting of a raw and edgy lead guitar, deep and bouncy bass and lead vocals reminiscent of Matthew Shultz of Cage the Elephant; they were certainly something I had been longing to find in a local band. They are the complete opposite to what we have come to expect with more recent bands, which are always pristine in musical delivery, wearing clothes largely influenced by various high-street retailers and conveying no emotional content. By the third song the lead guitarist had already broken two of his strings, just to put into context how enthusiastic they were as a cohesive unit.

After a brief intermission, MODEL MORNING was up next – and boy, were they everything we were all hoping for, plus a hell of a lot more. Though the turnout was less than expected, it was definitely a night to add to The Chameleon’s list of historical nights. Model Morning consist of frontman Pete Morley, who unlike 6 years ago, is now the drummer of the band alongside being their lead vocalist, Chris Moore on lead guitar, Rob McCleary also on lead and Richard Davidson on bass guitar. Their unique sound blends two reverberant intertwining shoegaze guitars, bass motifs that find their way into your subconscious and passion-driven drums rhythms.  Their first song song ‘We Go All Night’ combined a triggered drum-loop sample with aggressive stamina orientated live drums, slow sweeping ambient guitar notes played with along with a constant reoccurring guitar motif. ‘We Are Gone’ saw the emergence of the true ‘Model Morning sound’, with the deep catchy bass hook feeding off the drum rhythm, ambient lead guitars slowly entering and exiting as they please and passionate lyrics from the frontman. Ending on ‘As Guilty As’, which I am sure many of us, including myself, wanted to carry on for an extra 10 minutes or so, it was a shame to see the night come to a close, knowing that there wouldn’t be another chance to see these guys perform together other than their next gig the following day at ‘The Victoria’ in London. However, with possible new material emerging in the future, we might be lucky enough to see these guys, whether under this name or not, perform new tracks. So that is definitely something to keep an eye out for!

If you have been around in the Nottingham music scene for a while, you will every now and again see bands that were once prominent in the scene comeback to our city again for a ‘homecoming’ gig or ‘reunion’ and though we are in an ever-evolving industry, with new talent emerging each and every day, it’s always great to see a once thriving band comeback for another live performance! All of the appropriate links are bellow, so if you have not already heard music from either of these artists then definitely do so!

Model Morning: https://www.facebook.com/modelmorning

Crosa Rosa: https://www.facebook.com/CrosaRosa

Review by Paris Lindon-Hall