We caught High Regard, Seven Blood, and Lastelle in London on the last date of their tour where the headliners played Exist in it’s entirety.
You know it’s going to be a good night when the room is packed before the opener even steps on stage. As the alt-rock trio, High Regard, gets the night started in the right way. Two songs in, and you see jumpers coming off and people weaving forward in anticipation. With lead singer, Georgia Casey, dedicating their next song to friends and family they’ve lost, maybe people were head-banging in grief or nodding along in agreement. There are some upbeat ooo’s from the crowd, and then the band gives us some warning as ‘See Me’ drops, and our first pit of the evening ensues. High regard left such an impression that there were calls for an encore, as if the crowd got so engrossed they forgot there were still two more bands to come!
Speaking of other bands, after a quick changeover, an ominous glowing light begins to pulsate from the stage. It quickens to a flash. And Seven Blood have arrived. First stop, next level energy! Seriously, the lead singer, Azaria Nasiri, appears to be jumping on an invisible trampoline for the majority of the set, and it’s commanding. Although it’s not long before a sense of calm washes over the room as the lights changed to purple and the mesmerising lull of ‘To the Unknown’s’ first verse seemingly sent everyone into a trance. Maybe it was the music, maybe the hypnotics, but the next breakdown delivered our 2nd pit of the evening.
We got a new song of bittersweet memories, a Lady Gaga cover with a very welcomed heavy bridge, some clap-alongs, rainbow lights, and unwavering presence from the band. The only thing missing from this perfect evening was the headliner.
Lastelle are no strangers to creating an atmosphere for their audience, resonating every particle in the building with their intro, akin to that of a meditation soundtrack. Arms raise with the riff of ‘Pine’, and from the second the lyrics are spoken, you can just tell how much this band and their words mean to those witnessing them.
Starting as he means to go on, frontman, Adam Rigozzi, is straight into the crowd, hyping everyone up even more – not that they needed it. These are the little touches that help make this band so special, that and Freddie Whatmore’s distinctive horn. “If you came out tonight to have a good time, you picked the wrong band, sorry”, Rigozzi states. Whilst Lastelle might not be known for their super upbeat and cheerful tracks, they are known for leaving an impression, usually the emotional sort. And their next song was no exception as the crowd sang above the amps for ‘Breathe Me In’.
As we close out Exist vol. 1, the pit demands more room with people bouncing off of each other like friction is fuel. There’s talk of how frequencies have healing powers, and in the case of ‘…Exist’, it feels true, with drummer and vocalist, Mike Hayden, delivering a devastatingly heartbreaking performance. With a joke being made of the crowd knowing all the songs, a football chant of “we know, we know all the songs” broke out. Rigozzi challenging “if you know all the songs, then you know what comes next,” as the room splits like a gateway to the upside down.
We’ve got moshing, we’ve got crowd surfing over moshing, we’ve got cameras almost being taken out, if chaos was in the urban dictionary, it would have this gig as it’s definition. With Exist wrapped up and ‘Coping Without a Cure’ ending the night, the look on the band’s faces is nothing short of awe.
Keeping a crowd at such high levels of charge and emotion, where individuals are literally screaming lyrics in the faces of their peers, is a powerful achievement. This band has captured something special. In their songs, their music, and their performances. Where emotions are hard to quantify in lyrics, their music translates, and to experience it live is to experience it all. Good thing they are going on tour again in March with Casey, because some things are too alive to experience only once in 2026!
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High Regard Facebook | Instagram | TikTok