Stratford Rise at the Windmill 31.07.2025
On the final day of July, Stratford Rise took to the Windmill for their first ever London show in support of their debut EP. Playing with them was Thorby and Slowhandclap, the latter also playing their first London show.
Thorby opened up the night slowly and calmly, with a short electronic set to ease everybody in. Hands constantly shifting dials and pressing buttons to create a set of beats, constantly changing and evolving, with the audience visibly nodding along as the set passes swiftly by.
With a shift in genres, Slowhandclap followed Thorby with a take on noise rock that leans a lot more into the noise part than the rock. Distorted layers of bass and guitar, interspersed with slabs of industrial abrasivity, fill up the room as a few members of the crowd start jumping about. While they were only the openers, Slowhandclap is an essential find for anybody who likes anything as gritty as it is intense.
Half an hour later, Stratford Rise took to the stage and 30 seconds after created a wall of noise unmistakeable as the intro to ‘Gunshow’, the first song of their eponymous debut EP. The crowd, chanting along to the first few riffs, started a powerful pit absorbing all of the floor space of the Windmill as chaos ensued. Both the band and the crowd continued to indulge in madness as the next song on the EP, ‘Prone’, only increased the energy with even more dissonance, more frenetic riffs and grooves, and more lines sung by the crowd. It now reached a point where the singer had to warn the crowd to not get too close to the stage and to make sure the amps didn’t fall onto the dozens of pedals responsible for creating the myriad of tones produced by every instrument.
The pauses to tune the instruments between every song gave a much needed respite to the crowd during the hour-long set and were always filled with jokes and banter between band and audience. A cover of the song ‘Detached’, by the classic New York based no wave band DNA, showcased their influences when creating experimental onslaughts of sound. A long line of thank yous led into their debut single ‘Running Water Through Faucet’, which breathed new energy into the now very sweaty and tired crowd, ending the performance.
It is now abundantly clear that Stratford Rise is a must listen for everyone who craves the Schlagenheim-era craziness of Black Midi, but taken to whole new heights. An unmissable live act.
