The Asteroid #4 @ Shacklewell Arms, London 20.10.13

‘If you don’t know what this man has done, then you shouldn’t be at a Psych’ show,’ declared singer and guitarist of The Asteroid #4, Scott Vitt, midway through their captivating set as Daltrey took to the stage. What followed was a couple of live outings in ‘Silver Sailors’ and ‘Wishing Well,’ plucked from their recent collaborative LP The Journey.

The audience was then treated to a rendition of Kaleidoscope’s ‘In The Room Of Percussion,’ something that Daltrey is soon set to repeat next month when he plays the first show in forty years billed as Kaleidoscope.

Despite the hedonistic importance of combining different eras of the genre in live form, The Asteroid #4’s arrival alone when confirmed by Bad Vibrations was something worth shouting about. Given the recent influx of all things technicolour, somewhat contrasted with The Asteroid #4’s scarce UK outings; the ardent following (‘It’s nice to see so many familiar faces,’ quips Vitt) that gathered at The Shacklewell Arms on Sunday confirmed that the group’s relevance in the scene hasn’t waned.

The sauntering ‘The Unknown’ sets the swaying pace as their opener, with ringing reverberated chords being cut through by soaring Ryan Van Kriedt guitar lines. This pace was something that was to be frequently lifted, however, by prolonged crescendos of 12-string barrages throughout their set. ‘Rukma Vimana’ soon after being an example of the aforementioned, as the track’s (found on their most recent and self-titled LP) rhythmic changes that lead to it’s crashing ending show that The Asteroid #4 still have edge in what is currently a bustling sector of the underground music scene.

The previously mentioned Daltrey appearance then not only spurs the audience, but sends them on a nostalgia-induced trip that beckons shouted requests of well known past Asteroid #4 releases. One particular call is answered, as the melodic pickings of ‘Outside’ soon ring through The Shacklewell Arms.

The driving forces of ‘Wicked Wire’ are soon on the agenda, pricking up ears with lifting vocal harmonies embedded in it’s beating chorus as the set reaches it’s latter stages. ‘If you get us beers, we can play here all fucking night,’ roars Vitt, which is a considerably low price to pay for an on-form Asteroid #4.

Unfortunately, even given how timeless the Psychedelic Age is proving to be, the already extended set (thanks, in some part, to persistent bellows for more by the crowd) draws to a close with the declining guitar structures of ‘Into The Meadow,’ and The Asteroid #4 are free to enjoy the alcohol placed at the foot of the stage in offering.