New York five-piece WHATMORE took over The Lower Third in London on Tuesday night for what they announced was their first-ever show in Europe. The room was already packed when I arrived, with a really buzzy atmosphere, but as soon as WHATMORE came on, everything went up a notch. They were full of life from the first song, constantly moving around the stage, bouncing off each other and getting the crowd involved.
This makes sense when you know that Cisco Swank, Yoshi T., Jackson August, Sebastiano and Elijah Judah originally met at LaGuardia High School in New York. Watching them live, you can really feel that they go waaaay back. There is an ease to how they perform together, and throughout the night, they kept messing around and hyping each other up. This was one of my favourite things about the show. It was incredibly wholesome to watch a group of friends who clearly love making music together play a packed show thousands of miles from where they started. They spoke about how big a moment it was for them to be in London, and their excitement felt completely genuine.
The set itself was a mix of fan favourites and newer material, with ‘On Site’ being an obvious highlight. WHATMORE make incredibly catchy music in any case, but it works particularly well live. All five of them bring their own presence to the stage, but it never feels like they are competing for your attention. ‘go!’ was another standout, while ‘jenny’s’ gave us one of the more vulnerable moments of the night. Introducing the track, Jackson August explained that although he wrote it from the perspective of a girl named Jenny, the feelings behind it were actually his own. Writing as Jenny made it easier to talk about his anxiety and the things he was scared of. It was a sweet moment and also a reminder that, beneath songs that are so easy to dance and shout along to, there is a lot of honesty in WHATMORE’s writing.
Their music moves between hip-hop, R&B, indie and pop, and they never seem particularly fussed about making those clear distinctions. There is enough personality in both the music and the lyrics that you quickly understand why people connect with them.
Above all else, this was just a really fun show. I had arrived straight from a long, tiring day at work, and WHATMORE’s infectious energy woke me up immediately. It was sweaty, packed, loud and heartwarming. WHATMORE are clearly and firmly on the rise, and if this show was anything to go by, they’re only going to get bigger.
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Words: Tara Choudhary
Photography: Finn Hitchcock