Live Review: Nova Twins - Epic Studios, Norwich
19th March 2025
Support: Venus Grrrls, Precious Pepala
Words & Photos: Tom Atkin
Nights are starting to draw out, all the local venues are starting to pick up with activity and best of all, 7.30 doors no longer feels like it's late!
Opening the night we are treated to Sheffield’s Precious Pepala, a singer and song writer whose sound is certainly an interesting mix, there is a heavy influence of soul combined with both rock and dark pop. The first thing that stood out was her voice, which is absolutely incredible, instantly grabbing the attention of the whole room.
The soul aspect really shines through and it seems to really sit well with everyone. Lyrically, there is an audience connection as well, with content touching on mental health, victim blaming, acceptance and religion. The latter of which would normally be quite a decider for a crowd, not tonight though, she has everyone’s ears switched towards her.
The rock aspects of the music works wonders, hitting just as hard as the subjects that she is bringing to the table. Throughout her whole performance she carries an incredible amount of confidence, not faltering at all, even when talking about some of her personal life. Providing she carries on as she is, I imagine she is going to become one of those artists you wish you’d seen when they were smaller.
The middle filler of the evening comes in the form of Venus Grrrls, a 5 piece group that bring a hint of goth to the show. The energy during the opener was at a suitable level for the vibe. Now though it is about to be forcibly dragged higher.
The shift in energy is instant throughout the whole of Epic Studios. From the moment the bass line thunders out for the intro of '3x3' it sets a precedence for the rest of their set, it’s raw yet tight, two words that often don’t work hand in hand. Each song has its own stand out parts, in the case of 'Divine' its the beautifully simplistic but hitting guitar riffs.
They are consistent all the way through their unfortunately short set, each member of the band showing off their talent wonderfully. All of this being lapped up by the crowd, who are now a lot more active, although they didn't have much choice in that though as vocalist Grace Kelly near on climbed into the crowd at one point.
Now for the reason the Epic Studios is sold out tonight, the mighty Nova Twins. The London based duo that are taking the English music scene by storm, supporting some incredible bands and even collaborating with Bring Me The Horizon.
Starting the set with 'Antagonist' is a brilliant choice, it perfectly sums up their flavour of Alternative Rock, high energy, in your face and made to make people move. The bass heavy aspect of it is satisfying and their ability to make the sounds they do, all live on stage, is a testament to the amount of work that they put in to this.
This goes on all the way through the set; the almost dub step sounding sections of 'Sandman' sound just as at home as the chants of 'Piranha'. You can see why the crowd is so varied, being able to touch on so many genres and all done just as well as the last is no easy feat.
As a tour supporting their latest album 'Parasites & Butterflies', the album features heavily, in fact there is only one song off the album that isn’t featured. However, they don’t forget their roots, 'Taxi' from their debut album sounds amazing, the riff for this song feels like it came straight from Tom Morello.
The crowd is all over it as well, very few people are stood still, this energy is so infectious you would still be banging your head along to the riffs of 'Cleopatra' and 'Black Roses' for days to come. This is an absolute master class of some truly talented artists.
Nova Twins truly bring a very fan orientated experience to the stage, the fans know this, they even took time out to highlight their work with Amnesty International, a moment that didn’t feel forced or like they are sponsored to say it. It is clear it all that side of their lives comes from the heart.
Photo Credit: Tom Atkin
