Liverpool’s Hottest New Venue: A Kitchen on Pilgrim Street

Everything was sorted for Moats’ gig at The Shipping Forecast in support of up-and-coming indie band Pixel Fix, at least until the promoters pulled the plug on them at the last minute.

With train tickets booked for the Leeds Met-based singer Matt Duncan and bassist  Will Elliott, the four-piece took a page out of The Libertines’ book and started a guerilla gig in their kitchen.

With LIPA students James Pyrah (guitarist) and Nathan Price (Drums) completing the lineup, things were appropriately raucous, with a packed crowd of students getting up close and personal just inches away from the band.

Up close and personal with guitarist James Pyrah

Originally formed in Biggleswade (me neither) in Bedfordshire, Moats have taken their talents northward and have been taking audiences by storm on both sides of the Pennines, with gigs at Sound City and in support of Coasts already under their belt.

The band also have a number of recordings with producer Rory Atwell who’s worked with such names as The Vaccines, Palma Violets Yuck.

Turns out it’s a bit of a squeeze getting a crowd into your kitchen

Moats’ music is reminiscent of modern indie stalwarts such as Foals and the Maccabees, but in the intimate setting things feel more like a punk gig; drunk, sweaty and extremely loud.

The band utilises atmospheric guitars, strong vocals and effortless shifts into cacophonies of hard-hitting noise to create a formidable live presence.

Beatlemania for the lost generation

Free of the pitfalls of live music (overzealous security, £5 cans of red stripe) there’s an element of sheer enjoyment to the gig that’s a refreshing change from the increasing corporate staleness of the standard circuit.

Best of all with a gig like this there’s no trekking to an exclusive afterparty you probably can’t get into, as from the moment the set finishes you’re already in it.

Try smuggling 2 Litres of Zeppelin White Cider into the EVAC

If Moats’ performance is anything to go by then a back to basics approach might be the way to rejuvenate the country’s grass-roots music scene that’s been betrayed by the increased corporatisation of major labels and TV talent shows, and given their track record there’s every possibility that the tiny crowd may just have witnessed the next big thing.

You can check out Moats on Soundcloud, Facebook and Twitter.