REVIEW: MEDUSA LUNA / ANYWAY CHAMPION @ CHESTER G21 (12/03/26)
[review by steve rastin]
Anyway Champion made their first foray into Chester and blew away the audience at G21, simultaneously warming the cockles of this reviewer’s heart AND making me even more upset that I missed their set in the Queens Market a few weeks back.
Their sound has overt American alt rock influences apparent with some of their material betraying the imprint of The Pixies, but they aren’t slavishly apeing anybody and this makes their sound far from easy to pigeonhole, which can only be a very good thing indeed.
They’re very young, and when you have a drummer who has the precision of a metronome, a bassist who is quite obviously a genuine 4 stringer rather than a frustrated guitarist playing bass by default and a singer with a voice that is surprisingly and pleasantly soulful, you’re already onto a good thing.
The cherry on the cake though is a lead guitarist who commands your attention without being overly flash, a player who knows he is blessed with a rhythm section that is always going to be on the mark and who is therefore able to give the songs exactly what they require without the need for over compensation.
They played a Battle Of the Bands in Llandudno the following evening and qualified for the next round, a triumph that doesn’t surprise me in the least.
They’ve got gigs booked in Rhyl, Birkenhead and Colwyn Bay in the coming weeks and months and a return to Chester will also be announced shortly – just keep checking their socials.
Also on the bill at Chester were Medusa Luna, a band I was particularly looking forward to seeing after hearing endless reports about how good frontwoman Amy is.
Neither she nor the band disappointed, despite the fact that their new bass player couldn’t make the gig because she wasn’t quite ready/ had a motor vehicle breakdown/ is barred from the venue – get your stories straight next time guys lol!!!!!
Hearing them with a full line up would have been better of course but hell, The Cramps spent whole chunks of their career without a bass player and things turned out OK for them!!!
Even with just three quarters of their line up Medusa Luna sounded immense, washes of guitar cascading over drums that included the hardest snare sound I think I’ve ever encountered, its snap underpinning rather than overpowering the band – thrilling stuff tbf.
On top of it all you had Amy’s voice, a swooping, wheeling siren call that immediately had me thinking of Florence Welch at her finest – sonic nirvana with a lower case “n”.
A special note of respect too to Medusa Luna for the way they took their young support act under their wing – too many established bands take something of a haughty attitude towards younger musicians, so ML’s attitude was extremely heartening to see.
All in all, a match made in heaven so the bands will be sharing the bill in the summer when they play Ink in Colwyn Bay on Saturday July 4.
