RØRY/As December Falls/Lake Malice
LCR, Norwich
7/3/2025
It’s a credit to the LCR staff that when Lake Malice hit the stage just 15 minutes after doors the venue is already almost full. There’s been a bit of a dash for the barrier and you can see why the instant the music starts. The blend of vibrant pop with crunching metal is as fresh as the early morning daisy. Alice Guala runs around like a real life anime character with vocals that range from sweet and clean to pissed off screams. Guitarist Blake Cornwall performs heroics while being as equally animated. He even enters the crowd to form the centre of the first circle pit of the evening. With bucket loads of sass this is a lesson in how to open a show.
Nottingham’s As December Falls have been knocking on the door for a while now. They have earned a reputation as one of the UKs best pop punk acts but their music is so much broader than that. You get everything from angry pop to alt metal thrown in the mix, all while the mood is kept with the dial set to ten on the fun-o-meter. Bethany Curtis has in quite a short period of time become one of the best exponents of engaging stage craft around. That cheeky grin and bubbly demeanour are impossible not to like instantly. And the rest of the band are pretty damn good too. They play big hooks and thunderous rhythms with such a cool ease you think you’re watching people with decades more experience under their belts. This is a band very much on the up.
Not that long ago RØRY was in a very different places for now. Not that long ago it would have been near impossible to imagine her on this stage or any other. And what a huge loss that would have been, to have missed out on this voice, this incredible artist, this amazing woman. But she is here and boy is she on fire tonight! This sounds like an arena artist has landed at the UCL and everyone in the crowd knows it. From the first note this special, it’s engrossing, and yes it’s just a bit emotional too. Probably not since the late great Dolores O’Riordan has this kind of passion and pitch been heard in unison. Those little lilting highs, the smooth as silk mid-range and expertly hit low frys are all there to delight. The lyrics have you wishing you’d brought a hanky to dry your eyes, and it’s relentlessly consistent too. The journey may have been necessarily long and perilous but tonight we witness the rise of a true star. Let’s hope she continues to shine so brightly.
Review and photos by Gary Trueman