Wand

New to the world of Wand having only heard them a few days earlier on the radio I've got to say I was managing my expectations. The song I heard was a bit twee. Radiohead and Hotchip but not at their most interesting. Where's the psychedelia? What about the photo with the Steve Albino lookilikey? Anyway my mate Julse chose it and if nothing else we had a laugh in the Boston Arms and a great Thai dinner over the road. After the obligatory pointless queue with the thorough but pleasant door staff. We caught the end of the support band, possibly from Switzerland, with a fake drummer.

Once they were out of the way I decided to mark the occasion with a social media entry. Yes I go gigging on a school night. At my age and as events unfolded that turned out to be a bit of a challenge at work today. It was when I noticed a cryptic message, 'breakibg news...thoughts with you' kind of thing. I knew then and the death of Mark E Smith was confirmed by a story posted 7 minutes earlier on BBC. I showed my phone to Jules. We had been waiting for the Koko show to be rearranged which involved daily checks on the fall fan site. Gutted and sad. A long standing involvement with The Fall (I first saw them in 85 and many times since) had suddenly taken a drastic turn for the worst. So in all fairness whilst we stayed I wasn't really present for Wand. They were loud, definitely not twee and some good songs. Lead singer a bit of a show off a bit Steve Malkmous clearly enjoying himself but this busy gig was loving it. It just seemed apart from a shout out from the floor 'Mark E Smith!' it was only me and Jules in mourning.

Wand was one of the best live shows i've ever seen. Their set was over an hour of LOUD, hard-rocking punk music. They debuted a lot of new music which was very exciting as a hard-core fan of theirs.

After the show I got to chat with Corey (vocals/guitar) and Evan (drums) and they were both super chill guys!

This was a wonderful show and a wonderful night, i highly recommend this band's show to anyone

One of thee best shows I’ve seen in a looong time. Wow. Such a mature band. Really interesting and forward thinking music. Tons of hooks. So many different elements. Experimental yet poppy like Radiohead in their prime. But a little brighter. Velvet Underground. 80’s. 90’s. Psych. It’s all in there. Entertaining stage presence. Highly recommend these guys.

Possibly one of the best live shows I have seen all year...technically riveting and emotionally cathartic. If you haven't listened to Wand, do yourself a favor and check them out. I will never miss a chance to see these five hyper-talented musicians create sound and grace my eardums with it. P.S. Dreamdecay were amazing on this tour too :) -Amber

Amazing show, one of the greatest bands of our time that is only being witnessed by a few people. They should tour with Radiohead or something.

Lots of improv elements, super dope, all very impressive musicians, beautiful songs as always.

Only complaint: not enough people know about em. Too many hipsters keeping the secret.

A new and different Wand challenging its fans to grow with them...lots of slow stuff from Plum but also played plenty of the classics plus Neil Young's "Cinnamon Girl" played at this show. Wand refuses to stay the same and the band is following Corey into new lands.

First time seeing Wand and was not disappointed!! They rocked the house down!!Can't wait to see them again!! Love the new album its epic!!Hope they come to Houston next time drove in to Austin just for the chance to see them live!! Will never forget that experience!!

It was so great. We "forced them" to play an unscheduled encobre. It was magical. We managed to chat about a bit with Evan and Cory and they are the best. Great band, great musicians, great people.