American rock duo Lowertown brought the house down at The Oslo Hackney on September 7th. Following a heartfelt and contemplative opening from Sarah Meth, the overwhelmingly Gen Z crowd brimmed with excitement in the tight warmth of the sold out venue. 

And after a few woos and one oddly placed football chant the band stepped out into a room filled with absolute devotion. A slow instrumental opening track quickly gave way to the band’s more frenetic guitar-led rock melodies. The vocalist-guitar duo, Oliva Osby and Avsha Weinberg, were backed by bassist Sean Henry and drummer Immanuel Pennington- bringing an electric energy to the live renditions.  Far from the bitter-sweet jangly rock of their studio recordings the band thundered with a distortion and energy that riled the obedient crowd into a frenzy. In the dark, sweaty room, the excited pit quickly began tumbling into one another, pulsating with a blur of hands, movement, and “Wait, I think I lost my bag”. 

I soon found myself bent over and pinned against the stage edge and speaker, clutching my camera and shooting wildly. As the, now very sore and very large, ringlet of bruises crested on my thighs the crowd swarmed around me with a reckless abandon my generation seems so often starved of. Subsumed into the larger crowd I clutched my camera close to my chest as I allowed myself to get carried away into the chaos, not wanting to leave the infectious energy of the pit just yet. While the night went on, the energy ebbed and flowed with a crowd which could thrash one minute and the next stand quiet and raptured for a gentle flute-led ballad. Lead singer Olivia remarked on this “respectful but crazy” nature of the crowd to be met with a booming “Welcome to England”. 

This show marked a homecoming of sorts as the American duo returned to their “third home” in London. They reflected on their time living in Peckham and excitement to be back in the city. With little will to leave, Olivia called out to tech asking to prolong the show, adding additional songs to the setlist and performing an extended encore.

As they closed out the setlist with their hit “The Gaping Mouth” Olivia repeated the lyrics “you are the iris of my eye” circling the stage and pointing out at individuals in the crowd. Making clear the kind of reciprocal artist/audience relationship only strengthened by the night’s show, she emphasized each “you” as the lyrics reverberated back from the audience out of gaped mouths.

Words and photos by Eden Hetzroni