On a chilly Saturday night at the Grove, Newcastle, Divorce walk out onstage beneath a hand-painted blue banner, a bright, home-made backdrop that perfectly frames their lively, DIY world. The band are touring their debut album, Drive to Goldenhammer, an ode to the band’s home of Nottingham and an escape into the refuge of creation. They open with Karen, a lullaby-esque entry into the world of Goldenhammer, and barrel straight into the anthemic Jet Show without taking a breath. Next is Gears, an older single and the set’s first example of the two vocalists’ perfectly blended harmonies, erupting into a frustrated chorus.
However, despite the volatility of their gritty, raw, and powerful music, Divorce are anything but tortured artists. The band are warm, chatty, and thrilled to be here; they bounce off the crowd earnestly and are almost disarmingly human. Co-vocalist Felix Mackenzie-Barrow introduces the next song, Bone Museum, as “fresh out of the bedroom,” a reflection of the band’s highly personal approach to making music. It’s a new track that begins quietly and conspiratorially before morphing into a crashing crescendo, with lead vocalist Tiger Cohen-Towell singing “I wanted to be with you” like a confession shouted through a closed door.
For all its bedroom-rock feel, the music is almost mythical, bringing the audience together over a shared love for the band. They recall their first gig in Newcastle at Zerox, remembering that “there were about ten people there,” to which someone in the crowd yells that they were one of them. This is what Divorce do best, a tight connection with their audience, built slowly and sincerely. Mackenzie-Barrow continues regaling the crowd with tales of their accidental ‘Instagram beef’ with Sam Fender after a Nottingham club posted a story poll pitting the artists’ new tracks against each other, the band’s natural charisma flowing out in delighted disbelief.
They tumble into Eat My Words, their most Big Thief-sounding track, folksy and centred around a desperate, cathartic wail. The second half of the set drifts along as a stretch of airy, angelic melodies and the band’s signature harmonies, commanding the audience. The crowd erupts as they re-introduce Yann McAuley, the talented multi-instrumentalist of opener Curiosity Shop, with his accordion. They break into a lively rendition of another new song, Christmas/Heaven, McAuley’s accordion providing a traditional-sounding accompaniment to Divorce’s more typical whining guitar. Before the encore, they close the main set with Lord, its surreal chorus – “I’m a seahorse, and I need a little sugar,” – floating through the crowd like a silly yet unexpectedly striking mantra.
The encore is triumphant – Checking Out and Hangman charge the small venue with emotional static and sputter into a final, breathless cheer. As Divorce slip offstage for the final time, they leave a glittering after-image, and the chaotic world of Goldenhammer they built in the room vanishes all too quickly.
Words - Eve Riordan
DIVORCE official
The Grove official
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