The Bracknall Start the Countdown to New Album with Sold-Out Electric Ballroom Show

December 3, 2024 rocknews

If any venue epitomises Camden, it’s The Electric Ballroom. Since its roots in 1938 as The Buffalo Club, it has provided a musical platform for diverse acts, from Ed Sheeran and Harry Styles to Iggy Pop and Prince. Playing a gig at the Electric Ballroom to well over 1,000 fans is an achievement for any unsigned band. Yet, The Bracknall owned the stage last Friday as if it were their spiritual home, bringing their highly infectious, 90s-influenced guitar rock to life.
The four-piece band was joined on bass by The Grungers’ Matt Hookings, creating a wall of sound that at times had drums, powerhouse vocals, and four guitars shaking the 85-year-old building to its core.

Following support from The Preventions and Essex band Bilk, The Bracknall took to the stage just after 9 pm, opening with the recent single Get Better, followed by Ethereal and Long In The Tooth. They then performed the title track from their impressive debut album Going Nowhere Fast. Though unsigned, their live set is musically tight, and the passionate crowd—who travelled from all over the country—knew their songs well. This was exemplified by an impromptu sing-back of the chorus, bringing beaming smiles to the band.

Mid-set, the band premiered the title track of their crowdfunded second album, Falling Out Of View. Good To The Bone and Get Better then bookended a raucous cover of U2’s Beautiful Day.

In an age of three-minute pop songs, it was refreshing to see two six-minute tracks as part of the set’s closing trio. The crescendo of the gig (and the upcoming album) was the six-minute masterpiece This Music, a track that thoughtfully encapsulates the band’s current outlook. Lead singer Jack Dacey explained:
“It’s all about knowing it’s going to be alright. The papers and everyone else are telling us how f**ked we all are, but we’ll be alright. It’s all summed up in This Music:

Can you hear it, this music
It’s doing something to me
I can feel it, it’s healing
My soul is only growing.”

The second six-minute track, fan-favourite The Ballad of Winnie and Jim, led into the final number, I Don’t Understand It—their biggest song to date, with half a million Spotify plays. As the volume and energy reached fever pitch, the crowd sang along to lyrics about the struggles of being heard in the music industry:
“It ain’t the life I’m living—it’s the one I’m chasing after…”

Their 80-minute set left the crowd baying for more. Fortunately, the wait isn’t too long. Their second album, Falling Out Of View—funded by a remarkable £25,000 fan crowdfunding project—is set for release in February 2025, followed by an 11-date national tour from Brighton to Glasgow. The album is the sequel to their 2022 debut, Going Nowhere Fast, which received widespread acclaim for its freshness and diverse sound.

Setlist: