Corella | Koko, London | 14/05/24

“This is all we’ve ever wanted. You’re making a dream come true. It’s a Tuesday night for f*ck sake.”

★★★★★★★★☆☆

“We are living the dream right now. For a northern band, it was scary once upon a time to come down here but let’s have it.” grins Corella, gazing out to yet another packed-out show. A gaze met with smiles and beaming optimism.

After releasing a debut album that’ll stand the test of time, Once Upon A Weekend, Corella has hit the road on their biggest headline UK/EU tour. One of those stops was Koko, Camden’s signature theatre-turned-concert-venue.

If you’ve seen Corella before you’ll know the weekday doesn’t matter. This lively Manchester quartet make every show feel like a weekend.

After throwing themselves into Puppets with boundless enthusiasm, the crowd started what was about to become a long night of bouncing. Following suit Caught Up’s tropical indie riffs transported us to the Summer, which this year sees Corella debut on major stages everywhere.

Across the evening, we saw fresh renditions of early fan favourites (Monday, Let On, Bloom). But, it’s our favourite from the debut that really ramped things up - Head Underwater. These enormous riffs are made for live shows, and in the four walls of Koko it took on a life of its own.

“Ello London, we alright? Tuesday nights in London, look at this lot. We all got work tomorrow? Who cares about work?” laughs Joel. Just a few years ago these crowds were drastically smaller. Here they are, beginning to conquer London’s live circuit to almost 1,000 adoring fans.

The capital was gifted an extended set, in comparison to counterpart cities. Hometown got its live debut, an emotional spotlit acoustic performance, Joel explaining “We are on the road quite a lot and some of you may relate, but you miss your home.” They also played a defiant cover of Kings Of Leon’s Revelry, a track the band holds dearly.

“Are you enjoying the new album? Mind us playing a few more?” From the glistening indie-pop of Laidback to funky riffs on Say You Wanna, the reception to every new track was glowing. You wouldn’t think the album only came out a few weeks ago.

The big finale was a jangly indie anthem Lady Messiah, a tune crafted to get the masses singing. Last tour, while unreleased, the audience carried on singing when the band couldn’t due to technical difficulties. 6 months later, Corella is challenging sides of the room to whose loudest. It’s safe to say everybody won.

The main highlights stemmed from the three-part-encore, which was jam-packed with Drifting, Come Around and Barcelona Girl. People jumped on shoulders and crowd surfers took flight. The latter had everyone singing before it even started, prompting Joel to jump into the crowd to mosh later on. An experience nobody will forget.

Hearing the room scream back the lyrics of Drifting (‘Daydream about the fame and glory, that we’ll never get to know’) was the most poignant. This is a moment where all of that glory isn’t out of reach. And the crowd couldn't be happier for these humble Manchester boys.

:: Round-Up ::

“This is all we’ve ever wanted. You’re making a dream come true. It’s a Tuesday night for f*ck sake.”

Corella’s arrival at Koko was never going to be anything short of full of euphoria. Nobody could’ve expected the buzz behind this band to come to life in the ways it did this evening. On top form and at the top of their game, big things await Corella. And by the sounds of it, everyone is ready to come on the ride.

See full setlist on Setlist.fm. Were you at the show? Check out our Insta and TikTok for videos, or share your own with us.