Casey Lowry at Heaven

When someone mentions London’s LGBT stalwart, Heaven, one doesn’t usually imagine a room packed with 16-year-old girls jumping in sync to generic pop music. Or do they…? The exposed brick walls of the Embankment nightclub make for an intimate gig venue with impressive acoustics, which complimented the lively (albeit largely unoriginal) set from Casey Lowry last night, the support act for US pop duo Jack & Jack.

Pink lighting darted about the stage like the artist himself, who was energetic and clearly buzzing to be there. His backing band, donning identical floral shirts, matched his palpable enthusiasm but contributed to a set list that was samey and referential. Lowry’s lyricism seemed to blend talk-singing influences from the likes of Lily Allen and Scouting for Girls with the indie drawls of Two Door Cinema Club, a cited inspiration of his. Blank Face came a few tracks in, telling the story of the singer’s fling with a French girl to an almost Brexit-y effect: “I know that my accent is strong, but you should just try and learn it…”

Nevertheless, the audience absolutely loved it, and it was refreshing to see a fully engaged room singing and filming along to a support at 7:30pm. Second to last was the songwriter’s most streamed hit, Trampoline, which lately featured on Spotify’s UK Viral 50 chart. Penned when the soloist was only 14, the tune conjures an endearing image of, again, an unmistakably British childhood (“We might make a curry or we might make tea”). Somehow, however, it misses the beat of good writing and original riffs that catapulted Lowry’s role models to stardom.

Finally, to the audience’s delight came Me & You, another crowd-pleasing “will they, won’t they” number clearly tailored to engage its fan-base: teenage girls. Some beach-vibe, tropical influences and what sounded like steel drums added a new dimension to the last couple of songs and situated them more within Mac Demarco on E-numbers remit. Inflatable balls appeared,, to the crowd’s delight, and Lowry joined in unreservedly, asking his audience to “have the best minute of your lives”.

Perhaps it was, judging by the widespread positive reaction, and it certainly seemed that way for the London-based singer who brought a youthful, uninhibited excitement to the room. In this sense, he suited the feel-good vibe of Heaven and aptly threw us back to 2009, bouncing on our imaginary trampolines. Unfortunately, for any wider potential audience this was also to his detriment, and Lowry’s lack of originality felt stuck in, rather than simply reminiscent of, 2009.

Ruth Beddow
Photos: Erol Birsen

For further information and future events visit Casey Lowry’s website here.

Watch the video for 40 Years Old here: