Travelling all the way from Detroit, rock duo Vazum are welcomed warmly to Nottingham's upper room venue, The Chapel. With two rapidly rising local groups in support, the result was an atmospheric and intoxicating night of incredible music...
On first and warming up the venue nicely for Vazum were local band City Flowers. Honestly, they're crazy good, and you’d never believe they played their first gig together a month ago. Mollie Ralph provides lush yet powerful vocals throughout the set, effortlessly singing over her guitar, a vibrant pink mustang build. The four-piece are on top form here, providing heavy indie vibes mixed with resounding rock energy to provide an upbeat, fun and riotous experience. What really stands out for me though is the tightness of the band, the ability to play consistently high energy tracks for 30 minutes without letting up is extremely admirable.
A cover of Charmer by Kings of Leon is a massive high point of the set, with their version staying true to the organised emotional chaos and sleaze of the 2007 track but with the trademark City Flowers sound. The entire set is extremely impressive and seals a brilliant start to 2025 for Mollie’s latest incredible musical endeavour, with some excellent shows already done and a new single release too, the amazing song Beaut. These are honestly really worth checking out and 100% a must-see act this year. I’m expecting big, big things from City Flowers.
Second support act Stained Glass are just something else entirely. Fresh off the news that they’ve signed with booking agents Trust, it seems that this year they’re going from strength to strength in more ways than one. Musically, this 30 minutes is absolutely crammed full of their signature blend of shoegaze, grunge and even hardcore. Heavy music doesn’t get much better than this in a live setting.
Set opener So That’s Perfect is my personal fave; not to say that every song throughout isn’t incredible, but this song really stands out. It begins with a typical grungy intro, followed by a rousing, anger-tinged chorus that is simultaneously powerful, emotional and catchy. Now, normally I’m impressed by the raw energy of Stained Glass but this time I’m more-so impressed, as frontman Josh and synth-player / backup vocalist / guitarist Mollie are on double duty tonight, playing back-to-back as part of City Flowers.
The entire set is extremely impressive and seals a brilliant start to 2025
It's very impressive to see them hold up such high quality of music and stage presence. The whole band’s energy is next level and stays that way throughout, with every member putting in 110% effort. Alongside Josh and Mollie, drummer James, lead guitarist Hari and bassist Henry create an insane wall-of-sound backdrop, a sound that's unique but familiar in a sense, echoing the likes of 90s shoegaze but also being its own beast entirely.
The set’s finisher, Leave Her Alone, is another large standout and boasts a modern rock feel and combines it with a punchy, grunge feel and emotional, potent lyrics. 2025 will be a huge year for Stained Glass, and if you like heavy music made extremely well they are a must-listen and must-see.
Detroit-based goth rock and post punk duo Vazum, consisting of bassist Emily Sturm and guitarist Zach Pliska, both of whom cover vocal duties, are brilliant. Their live setup is simple but really pays off in the setting, consisting of just guitar, bass and vocals to a drum machine backing. It works well for them, allowing the duo to do what they do best: well written, powerful sounding tracks with layers of darkness and emotion inter spread, a true sign of well-crafted music.
Their latest single, Pretty Brutal, plays out extremely well live, and it really stands out in the set for me. It's punchy, dark, brooding but has an intoxicating groove to it, everything a post punk song should be. There’s hints of The Cure mixed with heavier pre-noughties gothic rock mixed with clear and resounding vocals and it all works very well together, with every song in the set but especially here. Honestly, song-wise, this act are really strong, across the set every song hits and the songs ascend towards more groove and conviction the further along in the set, leading to a powerful and fun climax nearing the ending.
It's rare to find an act with such a striking style that also perfectly reflect the music they create, but Vazum achieve it fully, via Emily’s lush black leather jacket and boots and Zach’s sparkling gold jacket and pale, apparition-like makeup. Its cool but also slightly scary, in a good way, again echoing a retro-gothic feel that leans more into the fun side of the genre. Its great to see, honestly.
For a band formed in 2017, Vazum have a rather expansive catalogue of music with nine albums, consistently putting out new music year on year with no sign of slowing, with Pretty Brutal being the latest offering. Their creative drive is extremely desirable, with an extremely consistent sound throughout both their streamable selection and their live set, staying true to the genre and expanding with it a modern, artistic edge. For a set just shy of an hour, they fill it with a big mix of their songs, and, for me, the standouts come from their most recent full album, 2024’s Western Violence, with the title track being a large standout throughout the set.
Overall, their set was brilliant, and if you enjoy gothic rock or post punk they are definitely worth checking out for very well-written, catchy but dark and foreboding tracks. Vazum area highlight in this genre, for me, and seeing them at the Chapel was brilliant, the large expanse of backdrop behind and above the stage really adding to the gothic feels of their sound and performance.
Vazum performed at The Chapel on 28th February 2025, with support from Stained Glass and City Flowers
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