29 September 2015 (gig)
30 September 2015
Entering Camden’s Dingwalls I didn’t know much about 19 year old Jordan Cardy, aka Rat Boy, and his music but I’d heard the Essex Jamie T like alternative music so I thought I knew what to expect. Bucket hats, Rat Boy caps and beer cups were thrown into the air as well as the sweaty bodies of a few hundred Essex teens - not what I was expecting. It was a weird but wonderful night.
Casso Clay took to the stage first but after a few hiccups with technical issues and out of time attempts to rap the two lads wondered off. Rat Boy himself watched for a small while and after being asked “what is this shit?” he simply replied “they’re just my mates”. I respect Cardy for staying humble after going from being fired from Weatherspoons to selling out venues.
During set changes Rat Boy peeped his head around the curtain to which the crowd erupted and grew more and more rowdy. Next up came Zibra who immediately brought the energy up with their summary indie tunes such as “Suncream”, which soon brought the crowd to an attempt of a mosh pit. Although slightly arrogant and even referring to himself as a “douchebag”, lead singer Sam Battle’s confidence and humour won over the crowd.
At 9:30pm Rat Boy took to the stage and his loyal fans gushed to the barrier to be as close to the young Essex lad as possible. The crowds were flooded with drunk teens moshing to any music Rat Boy decided to play. In a way I felt bad for Cardy as it seemed no-one was really there to appreciate the music but more to smash into each other and get a good video to put on twitter but Ratboy did encourage this by the continuos crowd surfing and chucking random objects to the fans.
Cardy played a strong but short set of only half an hour leaving the fans exhausted from the vigorous crushing mosh pits. His debut album ‘The Mixtape’ was played almost fully but his popular sing alongs ‘Sign On’ and ‘Fake ID’ were the ones to blow the roof off.
Performance wise Rat Boy was fantastic riding mini motorbikes around the stage and pouring water over fans but musically there is still something missing. The set was frustratingly short but the atmosphere was incredible for such a small venue and band. I hope to see Rat Boy producing more albums as his potential mixed with his quirky cheeky personality will make him big.
