Review: The Drop Jonnies at Rough Trade

The University of Liverpool likes to take pride in its academic achievements, but perhaps its greatest success in recent years are The Drop Jonnies. The band formed while studying music , and they graduated this summer. In my recent interview which you can read here the band spoke about their ‘scruffy and unwieldy’ origins. They’ve come along way since first year.

I met the band at Everyone Says Hi at the Jacaranda, and they invited me along to their headline show at Rough Trade. I was really excited to see them in action, alongside their support acts Saint Lotus and Idyllic.

Saint Lotus are a funk fusion band with incredibly talented musicians and vocalists. It may sound silly, but it is great to see so many instruments all on stage when a lot of music can be very artificially produced and more focused on choreography than music. They had the perfect sound to ease everyone into a night of live music, almost like slipping into a warm bath. The audience enjoyed getting involved with tracks like ‘Funky Stuff’ which had a timeless groove. The vocals were strong, and you can just tell how well the band gel together. I would love to hear them play live again, so I’ll be watching with anticipation to see what they do next.

Next up were Idyllic. With a core indie sound, you could hear their range of influences. It’s the sort of music that sounds great in the studio, but it taken to another level once you hear it live. The word to describe them would be energy. They bought up the crowd to a great level which is all you can ask for in a support band. I enjoyed their already sizeable back catalogue of original songs. Their latest single ‘Side Eye’ was a real standout not just from the set but for the whole evening. I would thoroughly recommend streaming it now. You can check out Idyllic for yourself when they support Dead Cherry at the Quarry on the 28th of November.

The main event was of course The Drop Jonnies themselves. They’ve recently released their new single ‘Marie’ which has a great hook and sounds wise beyond its years. The band have a level of polish that is incredible for such a young group, and ‘Marie’ completely exemplified this. It’s available to stream now and I strongly recommend that you do. Their other single ‘Green Chick’ is a returning favourite for the crowd who knew every word.

Showmanship is hard to find, but The Drop Jonnies manage to have it 4 times over. I was really impressed with their performance, and particularly how they shared lead vocals. It feels like sometimes later on in their careers other band members want their go at lead vocals. Showcasing all of their talents right from the beginning feels to me like the perfect way for the band to get the best out of themselves. The range of songs performed in their 45 minute was also great to see.

At the end of the day, The Drop Jonnies just put on a great show. Nothing compares to live music, and getting to watch a band who are living for their performance just shines through. I was fully swept up in the music, alongside the entire audience. It was one of those concerts that went past so quickly and I was genuinely disappointed when it was over.

Thank you so much to The Drop Jonnies for inviting me to such a fantastic show. I was so impressed by the support acts, their performances, and the overall crowd. It’s been one of the concert highlights of my year.

The Drop Jonnies play London on the 10th of November and Leeds on the 18th of November.

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