Exeposé Music Showcase Impresses Audience At Cavern

The mixture of established local acts with some choice selections from further afield gave the Exepose Music Launch an eye-catching Freshers’ Week lineup. With future events mooted, this was a strong opening gambit in a market which is often difficult to get right.

Opener Some Sort Of Threat (aka Rory Matthews) who some might know from the Fairweather Band has been a staple of the local scene for some time and this was made clear in the polished nature of his frenetic and passionate acoustic set. His songs are typically shorter than average and this succinctness played in his favour, allowing him to cover a lot of material extremely quickly, whilst still having time to engage the crowd in intermittent droll conversation. “I’m Some Sort of Threat” “a threat to what?” “Your Family… National Security.” Whilst as is the norm at gigs such as this, the Cavern wasn’t particularly full for his set. For those of us present, it was a great opportunity to see his offbeat Folk live, and off the back of that set, I’m looking forward to his album which has been pencilled in for the near future.

Splitsville followed, hot off a decidedly bold all-Beatles cover set at the Old Firehouse the night before. Whilst I wouldn’t have minded hearing strains of Come Together or suchlike, it was good to see the band return to their normal operating paradigms, a pulsating and aggressive brand of Punk with definite Post-Hardcore tinges. I recognised a lot of their songs from previous gigs the academic year before, understandable considering the new year being extremely young. Nevertheless, I felt they were tangibly tighter than when I’d seen them at Battle of the Bands and I’m expecting them to push on this year so they can hopefully cement themselves as one of the forerunners of the Student Band scene.

Bangers were of similar genre, and bar some jarring volume control at the beginning of their set, they delivered a strong headline performance. Having been around for sometime, the Cornish band were well-disciplined and once the audio was optimised their Punk sound worked well - notably tracks such as The Hard Way which remind me of Blink 182 combined with the vocals of early Enter Shikari.

Transition came with Delmer Darion, a local two-piece electronic act who have been making waves amongst Exeter’s music-lovers with their unique brand of entrancing, eclectic, electronic fusions. Unfortunately only one half could make it to the Exeposé Gig, but the act was as hypnotising as ever. The crowd stood fixated on Tom as he weaved between guitar, decks, and laptop, layering each element with thoughtful precision. Having seen Tom play as Delmer Darion before, it’s clear that he is capable of holding a great gig by himself, but it will be very exciting to hear the duo perform together. Following Delmer Darion were sets by Our House residents Tom Deuchars and Harry Parsons, who ended the eclectic night at cavern with a bang.

Photo Credit: Natasa Christofidou from Exeposé Music