South Arcade – LEAP – Hannah Grae. For the majority of the history of heavy rock and Metal, it has been a brooding, dark entity. Leaning into a moodier, sometimes gothic, style, the rock of the time was intentionally antagonistic and combative of the rapid adoption of modern, electronic sounds in the pop space.
South Arcade – LEAP – Hannah Grae
KOKO, London – 14 March 2025
Words And Photography: Matt Pratt
With a new generation came an evolution to the traditional sound in the early noughties. Doing away with the restrictions of genre, the rock scene became more open to external musical influence. Bands such as Linkin Park, System Of A Down, Limp Bizkit and Enter Shikari presented an entirely new way of pitching rock music to the masses, channelling into the popular market with their vibrant, electronic, melodic sound which continued to share the alternative message which we have become so accustomed to within the rock community.
Time has passed, and once again, we are beginning to see where those who grew up with the fresh rock music of the early noughties will take the genre next. No band is chasing this vision more boldly than this evening’s entertainment, South Arcade.
South Arcade
The Oxfordshire outfit had queues spanning the block at doors for their headline show at the remarkably upmarket venue of KOKO, a far cry from the usual damp-ridden pit you would expect for a rock show. It has been as short a tour as can be this time around for the popular young band, with just two dates in Manchester and tonight in London.
The two dates have been pitched as a ‘battle of the bands’, staying true to their Scott Pilgrim-esque imagery, with their alter-ego North Arcade taking to the stage in Manchester and the real deal appearing tonight.
There was a long wait for our headliners this evening. Billed to take to stage at 9:15, they didn’t make their appearance until 9:45, with a poor stage tech looking awfully frantic, zooming about the stage.
Fortunately, there was little impatience from the crowd, who were kept occupied by the dispersion of foam fingers throughout the audience who took it upon themselves to share the love with those on the balcony, tossing spares upwards to cheers as they were caught and celebrated by the recipients.
If anything, the delay built the anticipation of the packed Camden venue. As the lights dimmed, the youthful crowd roared as, one by one, each member of the four-piece triumphantly skipped onto the stage.
As the final member, Cavelle, landed front and centre, they launched into a rendition of one of their biggest hits, 2005. The opening song perfectly frames where the band have developed their sound, harking back to their own pleasant memories from two decades ago.
As you would expect from a band whose identity is so heavily influenced by nostalgia, their style feels incredibly familiar whilst also having the freshness of a young band with new ideas. While they are most certainly a band in the rock scene, it feels as though they have adopted all of the addictive bubblegum quirks of pop at the turn of the millennium. 
With no intentions of letting the late start slow them down, the band barrelled straight into another huge hit, HOW 2 GET AWAY WITH MURDER. The unique release will have been how many found their way into the band, a regular feature of their huge social media following and particularly representative of the band’s sound.
The song received a bouncing reception from the audience who blared the lyrics, even trying to verbally replicate the sounds of a car lock beep, tyres screeching and an engine revving, much to my amusement.
At the midpoint of the evening, we were met with something I could not have possibly imagined prior to tonight. Somehow, against everything I believed to be possible, we saw a rendition of Justin Timberlake’s SexyBack that was met with a mosh pit.
Somehow, these youthful geniuses had converted the mellow pop hit into a fully fledged Metal song, and it was brilliant! I pray we can be as fortunate as to see a studio-recorded version of this cover in the near future.
It was just the morning of the show that South Arcade released their newest single Supermodels, so it was a great surprise to lead vocalist Cavelle that plenty of the crowd had already memorised and recited the lyrics perfectly in return of its second-ever live performance, the first coming a night earlier in Manchester.
The band are far too much in their infancy to boldly claim that this was a greatest hits tour, but it was, without a doubt, jam-packed with hugely popular hits such as Nepo Baby, DANGER, Moth Kids, Riptide and Unaware.
The show closed out with a celebratory performance of Stone Cold Summer, to which a barrage of friends and family invaded the stage from the wings, dancing and bouncing about with the artists.
It felt like the night was a real moment for South Arcade, as if the original dream had truly been met and now they could look up to the stratospheric goals of a band hurtling upwards.
The band have done phenomenally well, considering they are yet to release an album. They have got plenty of life in them and now plenty of eyes on them. I cannot wait to see where it goes from here.
LEAP
Much like our headliners, LEAP have made a concerted effort to make themselves known in a relatively short time. With a social media presence that cannot be traced back much further than four years, the band have already amassed a respectable 25k Instagram followers and have an onstage presence to match it. 
Taking to the stage with all the arrogant confidence of a prime Alex Turner, LEAP’s lead vocalist asserted control of the stage, clad in leather jacket and sunglasses. Their sound is akin to many of the popular rock bands of the past decade or so, comparisons could be drawn to Catfish And The Bottleman, The Amazons and Foals. 
It is easy to see how the four-piece could find plenty of airtime. Their pop-friendly tunes perfectly straddle the line between daytime radio-appropriate and sweaty rock night liveliness. The proficient performance radiated energy throughout, whether it be established songs or brand new ones.
It felt as though LEAP had plenty of supporters already in the crowd tonight, but they will have made plenty more. I am sure we will be hearing plenty more of this project in the coming months and with a spring tour to follow, it is the perfect time to catch the promising artists.
Hannah Grae
Trading the electric guitars out for an acoustic one, Hannah Grae made for a relaxing ramp into the hectic night ahead. Her beautiful vocals and playful lyricism were at home with the respectful early audience.
Plenty of enjoyable anecdotes and humorous digs at previous relationships made the performance an enjoyable watch, even if the sound was not that which many had come to hear.
Much like LEAP, it’s not hard to imagine Hannah Grae storming into the mainstream and receiving plenty of exposure around the festival scene this summer. 
