The unusually stylish crowd at the Borderline tonight betrays the fact that Italian band Verdena are headlining. Only Italian rock fans could look so well trendy and well groomed and indeed half the Italians in London must be cramming out the sweaty venue to see their heroes in action.

First band The High Society including ex-members of camp glam rockers King Adora tore out an adrenaline fuelled, poppy-yet-punky set full of singer Maxi Browne’s androgynous swaggering and the man-beast drummer Ash Sheehan’s mind blowing beats, hitting harder than most people could dare to dream whilst maintaining impressive style and control. The music was high energy and very catchy and they are certainly a band to look out for on the sleazy punk rock scene, warming up the crowd nicely.

Next up were Hearts Under Fire, a female four piece who bridge the all too neglected gap between punk and emo, staying true to punks aggression whilst allowing melody to permeate their assault. Perhaps not as intense as The High Society but equally as passionate, Hearts Under Fire also managed an impressive set showcasing their songwriting skills and musical prowess complete with four part vocal harmonies. This band will kill musical misogynism for sure.

Then, as tension mounted, Verdena strolled onstage, the three Italian titans who are hoping to make it big in England too. After the strong support acts there was a feeling of ‘can they top that?’ but suffice to say they did it and they did it brilliantly. Flaunting their excellent song smithery along with extended psychedelic jamming and ear bleedingly heavy rocking, Verdena proved that they are an act to be taken very seriously by the English market. Manic moshing and awe stricken looks a plenty were thrown during Verdena’s set; a wave of music, sometimes calm, sometimes stormy waiting to smother you just like the good old days. Indeed with Verdena’s Moog synthesisers and Orange amps it would be easy to mistake them for a throwback to the 70s until rocking tracks like Don Calisto or Logorrea tore any assumptions to shreds. By the end of the gig, after impassioned chants for an encore, half deaf and astonished fans sweating like hell exited the venue in a daze of amazement with veteran fans grinning in an ‘I told you so’ kinda way and new converts enthusing loudly about how great they were. Yes, Verdena really are that good and it is a high recommendation to go and see them live as the intensity, passion and brilliance of their performance is bettered by very few bands today. Simply stunning and an awesome night overall.

Reviewed by Liam McLaughlin

Photography by Asif Salam