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From the Wyre to the Thames, Courting are making the rounds.
By Charlie Cooper
16th of October 2022
Seminal Liverpudlian 4-piece Indie/ Hyperpop band consisting of Singer/Rhythm guitarist Sean Sean Murphy O’Neill, Lead guitarist Josh Cope, Bassist Connor McCann and Drummer Sean Thomas, “Courting”, are tearing up venues up and the country, touring to support their debut album “Guitar Music”. Personality is as essential as the music to this band, referring to themselves midway through the set as Cambridge based band “Sports team” which should give you some idea of the humor you can expect of the band in a live venue environment. Delivering an energy on stage comparable to little else we’ve seen this year, Courting set out to prove themselves with what they claim to be their “best ever show in Reading”. Projecting and focusing that energy all the way to the back off the tightly packed venue, the setlist consisted primarily of the bands new album, featuring a number of earlier singles including “Grand national” and “David Byrne’s Badside” and 3 currently unreleased songs slated for the second album, a particular favorite of mine is “Flex”.
The confines of the stage simply could not contain the sheer electricity generated by frontman, Sean Murphy- O’Neill. Trusty cowbell and drumstick in hand, he broke out into the crowd and let the audience become part of the show towards the end of the set, not to mention a very energetic “I love it” interlude and cover of ABBA’s “Mamma Mia”. There was not a moment that the crowd wasn’t energetic as ever, the passion of the quartet constantly kept the audience enthralled with the karaoke classics and audience participation. The packed venue would shake with the sizable mosh for every second of the set, resulting in a very minor brawl amongst the crowd which, in a way, added to the atmosphere.
This is one of the rare yet refreshingly intimate shows where the audience are close enough to the band to be able to get involved and have a chance to meet them, placing facebar as one of the venues we always keep up with. Whilst my own experience was brief, I was able to meet the frontman and drummer. Their easy-going and down to earth nature off stage created a wonderful contrast to the energy presented on stage, the strong personality remains as enthralling on or off stage.
Suffice to say, Courting are one to watch this year and beyond. After Guitar Music’s critical acclaim there is no doubt in my mind that the friendly Liverpool quartet are far from finished.