When I last caught Blue Violet in York in May 2022, they were playing to a handful of people in the city’s Fulford Arms public house. Tonight, the London-based alternative indie duo fronted by Sarah McGrigor (vocals) and Sam Gotley (guitar) take to the stage in York’s premier live music venue, The Crescent in front of a capacity crowd. They are opening here for Echobelly and have secured the support slot right throughout the Britpop legends’ current tour of the UK.
Blue Violet’s star is in the ascendency. Not only are they now performing to packed audiences in bigger venues right across this country, their second album is also on the horizon. Faux Animaux is due to be released on 24th January next year on Me & My Records via High Head Recordings.
Coming on stage to the strains of Marvin Gaye’s ‘Sexual Healing’ takes a fair bit of confidence, but Blue Violet have now got chutzpah in spades. They launch into ‘Undercover’ from their debut album, 2022’s Late Night Calls and it is immediately apparent that things have changed.
Driven along by the thunderous rhythm section of Cheryl Pinero and Martin Newbury on their respective bass guitar and drums, the band’s two principals now have licence to fly. And soar they do. Faux Animaux is the name of the new album – from which the next song ‘Imagine Me’ is drawn – but Blue Violet is now a different beast altogether, a bone fide rock’n’roll animal.
‘Sweet Success’, also from the forthcoming album, affirms the point. It is a glorious glam rock stomp working along a spectrum that connects Bowie and Sweet and fuses elements of 70’s nostalgia and showbiz pizzaz. ‘Hard Rain’ from the first album allows Blue Violet the chance to pull back on the throttle momentarily before they once more put their foot back on the gas and head for home, firing on all six with the high-octane fuel of the latest single ‘Fire’, followed by recent, one-off single ‘Human After All’ and, finally, ‘Asylum’ powering them on their way.
Blue Violet are travelling far. And fast. Catch ‘em if you can.
Photos: Simon Godley
More photos of Blue Violet at The Crescent, York
