Music | VIALKA | Wharf Chambers, Leeds

This evening I saw this experimental music, performing, dramatic duo Vialka at Wharf Chambers, not what I was expecting from my evening when I was asked if I want to go to this gig. It was so much better than expected, from what I thought would be another indie band strumming the same cords, singing about a girl. But no, my stereotypical expectation of live music was crushed and reformed as we entered the room to see and hear a single guitarist questioning the limits of music and the instrument.

Unfortunately I don't know the name of the two groups that performed before, which is a shame as they were just as wonderful as the headlining act and I would have liked to keep up with what they are doing. This will require some further digging, but anyone reading this, who saw this performance at Wharf Chambers and knows the names of the other two acts, it would be amazing if you could message me them please.

So as we sink and delve into the music, an experience as you listen to the sounds creating a story within the exposed brick walls of Wharf Chambers. I am speechless among an audience whose attention was intensely fixed on the performance as the story unfolds. The combination of sound created both with instruments and a series of household items, story based lyrics, a dressed set with a table and various props, along with lighting that was controlled and used within the performance. This wasn't just about sound, this was about a layer of things that made a performance, which is turn was one of pure experience. You had to be there to fully understand.