ViaHeart

Maybe it’s an indie thing. But some bands should perform with life-size card versions of themselves and get a DJ to play their music instead,” says Diroski blogger, Gemma. “It would save them the hassle of playing like they’re bored.” But fortunately, not every band turn to statuettes on the stage. A new breed of energetic front men are daring to wear their heart and expose their soul.
So it’s Thursday night when London screamo band, ViaHeart start their set in Finsbury Park’s pop-up bar, The Silver Bullet. They’re louder than the bands earlier in the bill. Their bassist takes a wider stance, unlike the bassist from the band before. The guitarist, with a flick of his hair, thrashes through the first fews bars. The drummer, small in size, large in volume, bares the brunt of the tight rhythm but only for 10 seconds when Russian frontman Ilya sprints off the stage as if he forgot something. What? Goodness knows. Where? Into the toilets just to his right.

The audience look on. Some are worried. It’s possible that the band may have to perform all by themselves. But not tonight. Ilya flies back out the bathroom bravely wearing a black skeleton suit, part leotard. 30 seconds ago, he was in an old-world globe T-shirt and jeans. With a black military hat reminiscent of the Velvet Revolver, he orders the band to stop and start again. Only then do the audience realise that none of this was rehearsed, or at least it didn’t seem that way when the band eventually complied.

No more than a minute’s gone by and Ilya produces the most electrifying performance of the night so far. It could all go down-hill from here on in, but he doesn’t ease up.
The small but intimate crowd soon discover that this young performer is seasoned in raw personality. His spontaneity is refreshing. In less than 30 minutes, he dishes out a convincing rendition of a Bob Marley tune, manages to sing upside-down, swinging by his feet from the rigging above the stage, and he honorably imitates Justin Bieber’s “Baby Baby Baby” record during the seconds between his songs. He has an uncanny ability to be brash and yet charming, singing what ViaHeart call, RockPopCore with a hair-rock 80s-style showmanship and a modern American post-hardcore voice.

Time flies, and he shouts, “We’re going home.” That’s the end. But his guitarist has other ideas and whispers something. “No we’re not” he retracts. “We’ve got another song!” He seems teasingly disappointed because he has one more song to sing whilst suffering from hay fever, though the effects remain unseen.

He’s set to adoringly prance through another spontaneous and memorable performance on June 30th at the Nags Head in High Wycombe to inspire faith, that London’s front-men aren’t all boring or pretentious.
- themusicmag.com