{"id":31709,"date":"2026-05-20T12:34:51","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T11:34:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.musicinleicester.co.uk\/index.php\/?p=31709"},"modified":"2026-05-20T12:45:38","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T11:45:38","slug":"gig-review-the-utopia-strong-at-firebug-monday-18th-may-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.musicinleicester.co.uk\/index.php\/gig-review-the-utopia-strong-at-firebug-monday-18th-may-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Gig review – The Utopia Strong at Firebug, Monday 18th May 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

Reviewed by Andrea Bird<\/p>\n

Photographed by Kevin Gaughan<\/a><\/p>\n

Gig organised by Magic Teapot<\/a><\/p>\n

At Firebug<\/a> on 18th May 2026, four bands\/artists played electro tunes. In ascending order of coming on stage was Colossloth, Sonar\/\/Radar, Bruise Blood and The Utopia Strong<\/p>\n

Colossloth<\/strong> <\/a>opened the night to whirlpool like sounds on the synth. The music ranged in intensity, eventually sounding pneumatic like. Three tunes were played across the 30 minutes that oozed electro rhythms.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Colossloth<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Sonar\/\/Radar<\/strong><\/a> with 4 in the band, had the electric guitar lead the intro of the first song. There was a rock feel and a seaside-like feel to the riffs. On drums was Dan Hessing, synth Ben Moore, bass Andy Ashey, guitar\/vocals Harvey Sharman. There was a good volume and feel to the music with a Strong drum featuring on the second song.<\/p>\n

The songs were amazing with good, catchy riffs. The synth sounded like a harmonica, often giving one of the songs an 80’s feel.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Sonar\/\/Radar<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Bruise Blood<\/strong><\/a> came on set with a haunting red background, with a rotating robot. The duo played the guitar and synth. There was a haunting introduction sounding like an alien invasion. High-frequency sounds played for a few minutes before the rhythm started. The music was jarry, sticky with clashing sounds. The quality sounded like an LP playing because of the pickup on the treble.\u00a0 There were techno disco beats like Ministry of Sound music. Overall, the set was good dance rhythms accompanied by electric guitar riffs.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Bruise Blood<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A good performance from The Utopia Strong<\/strong><\/a>, who played in a bold way common of their electronic tendency.<\/p>\n

Around since 2018, they played a mix of songs taken from their latest album. Steve Davis was on synth, Kavus Torabi on guitar and Michael York on percussion, played harmoniously for the full set. The band originating from Glastonbury gave a moving performance, playing some of the ambient tunes that showed their heritage.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
The Utopia Strong<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The band originating from Glastonbury gave a moving performance, playing some of the ambient tunes that showed their heritage.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":31714,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[352,216],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31709","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-352","category-gig_reviews"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.musicinleicester.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/IMG_8699.jpg?fit=1203%2C990&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p73uhX-8fr","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":31652,"url":"https:\/\/www.musicinleicester.co.uk\/index.php\/gig-review-amy-dx-at-firebug-friday-20th-march-2026\/","url_meta":{"origin":31709,"position":0},"title":"Gig Review – Amy Dx at Firebug, Friday 20th March 2026","author":"Kevin Gaughan","date":"27\/03\/2026","format":false,"excerpt":"This local band has been making waves recently. The vocals were clear and the music engaging. It was an enjoyable set that went down well with the audience.","rel":"","context":"In "2026"","block_context":{"text":"2026","link":"https:\/\/www.musicinleicester.co.uk\/index.php\/Music\/2026\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.musicinleicester.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/IMG_8493.jpg?fit=1200%2C801&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.musicinleicester.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/IMG_8493.jpg?fit=1200%2C801&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.musicinleicester.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/IMG_8493.jpg?fit=1200%2C801&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.musicinleicester.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/IMG_8493.jpg?fit=1200%2C801&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.musicinleicester.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/IMG_8493.jpg?fit=1200%2C801&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":30113,"url":"https:\/\/www.musicinleicester.co.uk\/index.php\/gig-review-virginias-wolves-at-firebug-saturday-8th-july-2023\/","url_meta":{"origin":31709,"position":1},"title":"Gig review – Virginia’s Wolves at Firebug, Saturday 8th July 2023","author":"Kevin Gaughan","date":"27\/07\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"with Rogue Notion, Boilers, Kath Moskvina and Venus Attax Reviewed by Imogen Cresswell Organised by Unglamerous Music On the 8th of July, a handful of bands associated with the Unglamorous Project teamed together in a successful effort to raise money for the charity Changing Faces - a charity that promotes\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2023"","block_context":{"text":"2023","link":"https:\/\/www.musicinleicester.co.uk\/index.php\/Music\/2023\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.musicinleicester.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/20230708_214814.jpg?fit=1200%2C676&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.musicinleicester.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/20230708_214814.jpg?fit=1200%2C676&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.musicinleicester.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/20230708_214814.jpg?fit=1200%2C676&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.musicinleicester.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/20230708_214814.jpg?fit=1200%2C676&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.musicinleicester.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/20230708_214814.jpg?fit=1200%2C676&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":31415,"url":"https:\/\/www.musicinleicester.co.uk\/index.php\/gig-review-harry-pentony-at-firebug-saturday-29th-novemeber-2025\/","url_meta":{"origin":31709,"position":2},"title":"Gig review – Harry Pentony at Firebug, Saturday 29th November 2025","author":"Kevin Gaughan","date":"04\/12\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"There are some music acts one cannot forget and Harry Pentony is one of them. 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