It was Linkin Park that coined the lyric “Time is a valuable thing, watch it fly by as the pendulum swings” in their song In The End, and it’s a phrase that has got sentimental me reflecting recently. Over the last couple of years by beautiful little 2007 Ford Fiesta has started being a little bit louder as he gets older. I’ve had him since 2010 and for the longest time, only used it for little trips here and there but over the last five years we’ve gone on some epic adventures, and it’s got me thinking about how in the next two years I’m likely going to have to send this car to the big scrapheap in the sky and replace it with a new one and it’s had me thinking about all of the trips I’ve taken in this over the years – and one of the first longer drives I did in this car by myself was to see Marmozets in Portsmouth Wedgwood Rooms.
Ageing as an adult is an interesting journey. When you’re in your 20’s you feel SO OLD! Without meaning to sound patronising to people in that bracket, you’re absolutely not – but I do understand why there is that feeling, because it’s two sides of the same coin for those in their late 30’s and early 40’s. For those in their 20’s, everything is changing so quickly – 10 years ago they were either a child or considered a child by all of the adults in their lives and now they’re out in the world navigating all of the changes that come with it – especially living in a world that is even more fractured politically, economically and societally than when I grew up at a similar age – and I had that same mindset then, often being the recipient of deep eye-rolls as though trying to do their best impression of The Undertaker and giving a the longest, deepest sigh that rivals the breathwork of most bagpipe players, however it’s now in those later years that I have this new perspective on ageing and how it feels as an adult – especially in that 30’s bracket – of what it feels like to grow into yourself but actually feel the ageing side of things continue as an adult. Those newer, more novel experiences were just every day routine – however there are ways back to those every day routine that in hindsight show that the little things make up life.
When I’m out in my car there is one thing I just CANNOT go on without – mostly, MUSIC. I use my journeys to craft the best playlist I can for both myself and any passengers – are role I take seriously as we’ve all been on journeys where the wrong people get hold of the aux. Oh, and in my car, that’s a VERY real thing for you see, my car stereo pre-dates modern Bluetooth connectivity and while nowadays I have a little Bluetooth dongle that connects my phone to the speakers via that little aux cable. Even older than that though was when I used an iPod for my music and there wasn’t the easiest of ways to connect so I had to resort to ancient technology… the CD player!
There was a time where I was once rather terrible for buying CD’s – in that I would hit up the local HMV and devoured 2 for £10 or 5 for £20 deals every damn lunch time but I never had my finger on the pulse of newer bands breaking through – that’s until I heard of Marmozets and bought The Weird and Wonderful. An album that would have a long lasting effect on me and be part of many adventures. Before there was the Bluetooth receiver, this CD went into my car stereo in 2014. Guess what’s still in there now in 2025 and hasn’t been removed even once?
Most of you won’t know that I used to have a crippling fear of flying. In 2005 I took a coach from my home town to Tuscany. It was around 36 hours – and not the modern coaches that have good air-con, Wi-Fi, comfy seats and whatnot – no, the kind that have a TV that everyone has to watch if they haven’t got their own reading materials. Hell, this even pre-dated portable powerbanks so the iPod had to be rationed. I never thought I’d get over that feat, but in 2014 I did so and went to New York for the first time. I remember walking in the front doors of Heathrow, and immediately running to the toilets to throw up because of nerves. However in 5 hours I was going to be on that plane, right? No, no – my first ever flight was CANCELLED! So another 7 hours delay waiting before I could fly to New York on that much smaller plane. In the grand scheme of things it didn’t mean a HUGE amount – I just arrived at night rather than during the day but a wonderful EU ruling meant I could claim compensation and with the amount I got back it meant I could go back to New York again for 5 nights, fully paid for. Result. I had the dates in mind and then I saw something on Twitter – Marmozets were going on tour with The Used and Every Time I Die. Not bands I was massively into myself but I had to see Marmozets perform live and they were playing in New York at Webster Hall – so a slight movement of dates and the bag way secured.
I remember walking down to Webster Hall – the weirdest gig experience I’ve ever had in my life. It was a lovely day, bright and sunny – something I can’t say that I experience with brutal cold winds later in the same trip but walking into Webster Hall I saw the wonderful venue, very bright and not like the dark and dingy clubs I’m used to in the UK. I watched as this new band I fell in love with absolutely ripped a new one. The musicianship just as good as it sounded on record, replicating perfectly the sonic landscape the album traversed and complimented by Becca’s soulful but guttural glided over the top, providing such warmth and depth to the lyrics and meaning in the songs. It was a pure masterpiece of a show and after they finished I left. No disrespect to The Used and Every Time I Die, but I bought the ticket for Marmozets.
A few years after this, Marmozets would announce a UK tour in support of their second album ‘Knowing What You Know Now’ and there were gigs close to me in Bournemouth and Portsmouth. Both the o2 Academy Bournemouth and Wedgwood Rooms in Portsmouth should be on EVERY live music fans bucket list for venues to experience music in. Small, intimate and beautiful in their own ways – the converted ballroom theatre in Bournemouth and the really small, dark and gritty Wedgwood Room in Portsmouth. I had a mate that I used to go to gigs with a lot – he was more of a confident driver than I was at the time, but Marmozets weren’t his thing, so the gig in Portsmouth really pushed me out of my comfort zone and I drove over – experiencing once again an incredible gig. When ‘Knowing What You Know Now’ was released, I can’t say the songs resonated hard with me on record at that point, but hearing Becca singing ‘Run With The Rhythm” live was as biblical a moment as I’ve ever experienced at a live show and it really helped unlock the slight disconnect I had between the album and I and I walked out of those shows excited for the years of memories I was going to make with this band. Little did I know that wouldn’t be the case.
If you look at the last five gigs Marmozets did, I was at their 5th last gig. However I didn’t know in 2018 that would be the case and that it would be 7 years before I got to see them again. Marmozets have felt like this small underground band that we’ve all gravitated to and hold dear, but they’ve managed to take prominent spots at festivals – their last Download appearance had them fourth down on main stage – an incredible feat, especially for a band that don’t have a single style, but most definitely still have a defining sound – new single ‘A Kiss from a Mother’ perhaps being the most Marmozets sounding song that could have ever been released. For me, I was sad that the band I loved just weren’t around – and hey, that’s fine. Life, well, life’s sometimes and clearly there’s been some wonderful things that have happened for the band on a personal level over that time – a far more important reality. However imagine my surprise when socials started releasing little videos here and there – I dared to dream that the band was not only coming back and new music was coming. A Kiss from a Mother was released AND a tour – which I quickly grabbed three dates for. Marmozets are back and I can go and experience that all over again. I’m currently on the train writing this, listening to “This is Marmozets” on Spotify and trying to stifle a smile as I go down memory lane – don’t want the guy opposite me to thing I’m smiling at him. I’m staring out at the city of Bath, where I used to work and have memories of my mental health being destroyed here and the serene sounds of Becca have now turned antagonistic with “Move, Shake, Hide” as the train arrives at the station. A defiant anthem that makes me feel good and as I pass the old office hearing “I’m alive… I’m alive… I’M ALIVE AND IT’S ALRIGHT!!!!” just hit in a such a monumental way for me.
It was really important to me that I tried to be as close to the front as possible. Marmozets are a band that I’ve connected with so much, and I thrive on energy in a live environment. The venue was in a cool little part of the city, opposite a rock bar. I arrived just in time to hear the band soundcheck ‘Kiss from a Mother’, which further amplified the excitement. I made some friends in the queue and when it was time to go in and head up the stairs, I was the first person take a spot. I was ready.
When thinking about writing this, I was originally coming in thinking it would be a nice track by track review of the show, but I left feeling much more fulfilled.
The band kicked off with comeback single ‘Kiss from a Mother’, which is, perhaps, the most Marmozets sounding song the band could unleash to the world. The song has a slow building energy that builds into frenetic – a Western inspired rattle and hum that starts with a gradual drum build as if a metronome getting ready to unleash the absolute ferocity of the guitar riff before Becca screams “ATTENTION” and grabs everyone in the room. It’s a song that has an incredible lyrical structure that bends and flows in a way that doesn’t conform to expectations which matches the way Becca herself moves on stage – so non-conforming, but in a way that makes sense for her and the energy. The track itself acknowledges the journey and change that this band has gone through, growing their family in an even more significant way, however in that moment it also felt like a bit of a rebirth for the band and the fans in a live setting. The energy was set, the crowd were ready and we knew we were in for a great time.
The band launched through a furore of their early material, with crowd favourites having a renewed energy because they were no longer just songs on a record, they were living, breathing things were were hearing in the moment. Embellishments across songs, extended middles and ends – it was perfect and kept you on your toes throughout. They had me locked and transfixed – at one point Becca turning and looking me dead in the eye while singing, and instead of feeling awkward and turning away I just belted it back at her.
‘Particle’ is where this turned from a gig where I was ready to dance and sing to where I was hit by a tidal wave of emotion, crashing over me. Becca’s voice is incredibly strong, but has a raw vulnerability to it that can connect with you on a deeper level. Like many, I’ve had to fight depression before and hearing this live, as though hearing the lyrics with new ears, it took me back there and reminded me of the journey I’d been on. I remember at one point closing my eyes and just going with it.
It wasn’t just the crowd that was experiencing emotion and that was clear from the stage. Becca wouldn’t make a great poker player as it was written all over her face, and she also mentioned it a couple of times. The lyrics, wrenching, the moment seemingly fulfilling and a vindication for a band who have in some ways almost start from scratch. There’s two fanbases out there – one, who have loved and lost this band from the live arena and another who have discovered them post hiatus. Talking to us all about how the moment was a blessing for them, this confident titan of a woman who commands the stage like few others, skirting between tender, raw vulnerability to stalking the stage with aura and aggression became something else in front of us – human, stripping back the layers to show an unassuming person that was there in the moment. As the swell of music rose around her from Captivate You, I heard Becca say ‘I’m so happy’. There was no microphone and could only be heard due to just how close we were to the stage and as she turned around I looked at her and said “So am I”. I don’t normally engage and interact so much, but it felt important they knew that were were feeling it just as much.
It would also to be easy to forget how professional these guys are given such a hiatus and this only being their second gig back but that shone through. Through a broken snare, to clearly some little issues throughout you could see them communicating with, they handled it superbly and you genuinely wouldn’t have noticed any issues such is how strong a performance they put in. Crowd banter and engagement was on point. This did not feel like a band who were just happy to be there, it felt like a band ready to reclaim their crown and with three additional new songs that hit well, I for one know that I’ll be ready to buy that album when it comes out. It was also a lovely full circle moment for me when Becca said that they have a song called New York based on an experience there – something I also have with that band. They finished up with a tour de force of ‘Why Do You Hate Me’ and ‘Major System Error’ to ensure that any final droplets of sweat not yet drawn would make their way to the fore – Becca herself urging anyone that may be holding back ‘Now’s your last chance’.
It’s always a lovely sign when a band say it’s the last song and the crowd collectively boo – it must have felt so vindicating that after all this time it still meant something to hear these songs and connect together. 8 years is a long time and if we’re lucky, we’ve all been on a journey of growth in different directions however for us all to connect together again was special.
There was not a single song that felt like it didn’t hit but for me, ‘A Kiss From a Mother’ brought the intensity and energy right at the start, with ‘Major System Error’ doing the same at the end and having me bouncing like I’m 21 at a pop punk gig again, and complimented by ‘Captivate You’ putting the vulnerability front and centre as the crowd delivered a performance of the chorus in place of Becca.
I danced, I smiled, I laughed, I felt and I belonged there is that moment, with all of the people behind me, beside me and the band in front of me. We were one.
It’s been a long time since I was that 16 year old that heard Mike Shinoda rap “Time is valuable thing, watch it fly by as the pendulum swing” and despite thinking they were the deepest lyrics I had ever heard, I could never truly feel the gravity of them. However it’s with age that have accumulated those memories – hearing Hit The Wave live again and being transported to being on the bus to visit my Mum in hospital, Born Young and Free and remembering sunny drives to Monkey World and singing my heart out, Love You Good being on the jukebox of a playlist as I drove to get my ASDA shopping, Major System Error taking me back into those clubs and hearing it in a way that got me hyper and frenetic, dripping with sweat and destroying my vocal chords, remembering all of the times that aux receiver would run out of battery and Particle would just pick up from where I’d left off and accompany me home – all of the times remembering who I was with and all of those little moments. The little moments are the ones that make up life and really resonate back with perspective that I think you only truly appreciate when you hit a certain age. Winding up finishing this as “Meant to Be” blasts out from my playlist is as big a sign as I could have imagined.
Time travel exists. It’s music. Now matter how much the body ages, the how much more jaded and cynical the mind becomes, the spirit of music will always shine through to the mind and tonight, Marmozets were the perfect captain of that machine.