Bad Suns Keep the Spark Alive at Electric Ballroom
The alternative rock band Bad Suns made their way to London to play a room filled with passionate fans at Electric Ballroom in Camden. The band is touring in support of their latest studio album “Accelerator”. After been touring for over a decade at this point, the experience shines through during their whole set.
They opened with “Slow Karma,” a track from their latest record released in August last year. The crowd settled into the rhythm quickly, fans already in the mood, while the band moved steadily through their catalogue.
After a string of songs, lead singer Christo Bowman stepped up to the mic and told the crowd, “We’re Bad Suns from Los Angeles, California.” The accent and delivery carried a familiarity that reminded me of so many bands that broke through in the 2010s, when alternative rock caught another wave during the early boom of the streaming era.
Bad Suns’ set was energetic in the way that anybody who have ever listened to them would expected. Highlights included “Heartbreaker”, “Madeline”, and “Salt”, each one pushing the room further into motion, Bowman urging the crowd to dance along with them.
About a third of the way through, the acoustic section helped slow the night down just enough to let everything breathe. The band performed an acoustic version of “Violet” from their sophomore studio album “Disappear Here”. The whole room sang along. You could feel that quiet realisation move through the crowd that this was probably a song that soundtracked parts of their lives nearly ten years ago. There is something special about hearing a room full of people return to a song they have carried for that long.
They closed the set with “Daft Pretty Boys”, still their most recognisable song and the one that first pulled many people, myself included, to explore the world of Bad Suns. A decade in, Bad Suns still make songs that feel alive in a room, and they still know how to turn that room electric.
If you have heard of Bad Suns before, seeing them live will probably remind you why you started listening in the first place. And if you have not, a night like this makes a pretty convincing introduction.
