A mid-week gig never sounds appealing, you’re getting over the hump towards the weekend, but when the young Irish up-starts Inhaler come to town, you make yourself available.
The scepticism was fairly strong for this gig, it was hard to not look past the fact that their lead singer was the son of rock music demigods U2, yes that’s correct Eli Hewson is the son of glasses-toting, politics-pushing, multi-platinum selling Paul Hewson or to everyone else… Bono. However, we were prepared to be proven wrong and eat a big slice of humble pie.
The excitement around this band is palatable, (the 13 photographers in the photo pit is a good sign). Maybe it’s the famous connection or the genuinely great number 1 album they produced; I am going to go with the latter. Before they walked on stage the crowd were stirring, a wide selection of banners down the front and one Irish flag reading “Inhaler Worldwide Domination” maybe they are pre-empting world domination and to be honest we are here for it.
As the band walked on stage the sound was deafening, their fanbase was younger than expected, not teenyboppers but certainly younger. In all honesty I expected a swathe of middle aged U2 fans.
The band opened with album namesake It Won’t Always Be Like This. Everyone in the audience was screaming the words back at the band. They truly had the audience in the palm of their hand.
This far into the UK tour they look relaxed and sure of themselves. A confident display of crowd control and cool aurora around all the band members. You’d be shocked to think that this band is only on their first album, they really gave off the impression they were a seasoned touring band. Hewson stated to the crowd “this is the biggest room we have ever played in” and the 2000, sold out crowd were very pleased to know to hear this.
Fan favourites such as Ice Cream Sundae, Totally and Cheer Up Baby inspired many crowd surfers and mosh pits turning the atmosphere to 11. As we hit the crescendo in the show with break through hit My Honest Face the audience went into overdrive, hanging on every word from the band savouring every moment. This isn’t just a normal gig, this feels like a sermon at the feet of Inhaler. This band is on the up and you should grab hold to enjoy the ride with them. Yes, our scepticism was well and truly squashed after the opening bar of the first song.
Inhaler are on track to become one of the all-time indie greats, yes having a famous dad may open certain doors for a band, however if you don’t have the songs to back it up, them doors can be firmly shut. If you get chance to see this band in small rooms we would advise doing so, they will be in arenas before too long. 4/5
