Charly Bliss – Night People, Manchester

Reviewed by Matt Forrest

“Our Album, comes out at midnight, so this is our launch party and we want to see you guys party!” This is the proclamation of Charly Bliss’ lead singer, Eva Hendricks. Hendricks is beaming with pride and is clearly excited by the band’s latest release, Young Enough; and she has every right to be, for it’s the blend of punk and pop that really shouldn’t work but absolutely does!

The four piece from Brooklyn are; Hendricks on lead vocals and guitar, Spencer Fox on lead guitar, Sam Hendricks smashing the drums and Dan Shure on bass, with everyone chipping in on vocal duties. They arrive on stage bursting with energy for a high octane, snappy set with songs from their new album and the 2017 release Guppy.

Singles Glitter and Ruby receive an airing, as well as new songs Blown to Bits and Chartroom, and whilst the audience may not be as familiar with the new songs, they were greeted with the same excitement and enthusiasm as older material.

Charly Bliss are a musical hybrid: punk, pop, rock, grunge and a smidgen of electronic, which the group manage to marry together successfully. Hendricks is an intriguing watch throughout: occasionally po-go-ing about the stage with a manic expression, not dissimilar to that of a chastised teenager, whilst being full of charm and a genuine excitement.  

On the basis of tonight’s show, Charly Bliss are a unique beast live: energetic, loud and full of joy.  The band give their all in their live shows and that bleeds though into the audience. This was an upbeat, sweaty gig performed by a band just having a good time, and that’s what they want from you too… which is no bad thing at all.

To find out where they are on tour, click here.