Following the release of We Are The Ocean’s third record ‘Maybe Today, Maybe Tomorrow’, the pressure was on guitarist Liam Cromby to step up as frontman after the departure of vocalist Dan Brown in 2012. A solo acoustic rendition of “Stanford Rivers” from the recent album showed that he was more than prepared to take centre stage. The rest of the band then joined him to see the whole place immediately come alive and sweaty to the angst ridden riffs of “Bleed” also from the new album. We Are The Ocean seem to be proving themselves to even the most die hard fangirls of previous poster boy Dan Brown.
Cromby proceeds to show off his frontman capabilities with interaction between songs, rather enjoying the crowd coining his very Essex ‘alright’ as phrase of the night. Even during older songs where Brown would have been the main focus, the band managed to keep it strong and we heard more of guitarist Alfie Scullie’s voice to accompany Cromby.
The set ends as it started with just Cromby on stage with his acoustic guitar, this time singing “Young Heart”. He is by no means alone however as the entire crowd scream his lyrics right back at him. Furthermore the rest of We Are The Ocean, along with support acts Yashin and Straight Lines bombard him with a hat and some shades to complete the frontman look, almost as if he hadn’t already proved himself worthy of the slot.
SAMANTHA MAE 