Tonight, I’m heading to Birkenhead for Do Nothing’s first gig of the year – the Nottingham four-piece are headlining Future Yard’s ‘Onomatoposter’ launch. The exhibition is a collaboration with printmaker/designer extraordinaires Toucan Tango, and gig posters line the walls of the Future Yard gallery space. It’s an unbelievably cool project and definitely worth a visit – the gallery will be open until the end of March.
Do Nothing kick off with ‘Happy Feet’ before heading straight into their new single, ‘Summer of Hate’. The band’s latest offering does not disappoint – I’ve had it on repeat since October. (Side note: watch the music video for this! It’s brilliant. Reminds me a bit of ‘Just’ by Radiohead.)
Up next is ‘Lebron James’. I love everything about this track – it’s sharp, groovy and has one of the best basslines around. Also, Chris Bailey’s vocals are ridiculous. The Do Nothing frontman, with his immaculate stage presence and dress sense, is at the top of his game tonight.
His new in-ears, however, do not want to co-operate. The person behind yells something incomprehensible even on a good day and Bailey admits he can’t really hear anything they’re saying.
Then he somehow clocks on – “Nerve? Of course we’re going to play Nerve.”
The next sixty minutes feature some of Do Nothing’s greatest tracks, with the band cherry-picking from their debut album Snake Sideways (released 2023) and earlier EPs. They also decide to test out some new material, throwing unreleased tracks like ‘Smile’ and ‘Act Natural’ into the mix. Their stuff is fresh, scathing and unbearably clever. I’m a huge fan.
Later in the evening, the band bring out an old favourite: ‘Handshakes’. Pretty sure this was the first Do Nothing track I ever listened to – thanks Liv for recommending!!
It’s one of their best tracks, full of atmosphere and moody guitar tones – Kasper Sandstrøm has made his return to Future Yard (albeit holding an entirely different instrument) and is absolutely killing it on lead.
Three minutes later, Bailey stops singing, stepping away from his mic for a moment and listening (or maybe not?) to the Birkenhead crowd singing the last line back to him.
Do Nothing reach the end of their set and Bailey keeps his promise – ‘Nerve’ is the final track of the night.
It’s a near-perfect set, with only two things missing.
The first – ‘Gangs’. A friend was living in Nottingham when this came out and messaged me about Do Nothing, telling me that I had to listen to their new track because it was, and I quote, “really cool”. He’s not wrong.
Another track I would’ve loved to hear tonight is ‘Amoeba’. It might just be my favourite off Snake Sideways and I’ve watched every live session of it under the sun. The Vevo DSCVR version is actually flawless.
It also reminds me of the worst joke my Dad has possibly ever made. I’d played ‘Amoeba’ a couple of times in the car and asked him what he thought – he just nodded and muttered “really hope they’re single cells.” Dear god.
Anyway – the results are in and it looks like Do Nothing are the real deal. Not sure how you follow Snake Sideways – it really is one hell of a debut – but I can’t wait to see what’s next for them.
Review by: Ayla Hewitt
Images credit: Ayla Hewitt
Follow Ayla on Insta: @aylagoestogigs @aylaratesalbums
