You understand who Sophie Lloyd is. Even if you happen to’ve by no means heard her identify earlier than, you’re a metalhead on the web. Which means at one level or one other you’ve seen her on Youtube, shredding virtuoso variations of basic rock hits from Sultans Of Swing to Stairway To Heaven.
Sophie’s viral fame (she has 1.19 million subscribers) has opened a number of doorways for her. From a bed room participant in Britain, she’s grow to be the reside guitarist for rap star Machine Gun Kelly. Plus, she’s launched a profession making unique music, final 12 months’s debut album Imposter Syndrome getting vocalists from Trivium, Halestorm and extra to sing over her blazing solos.
Tonight’s present at London’s 500-capacity Underworld is Sophie’s first-ever as a solo star, and it unsurprisingly bought out in moments. It begins promisingly sufficient as properly, the guitarist taking the stage along with her backing band and opening with two of her earliest originals, Battleground and Bulletproof Revolver. She proves endearing between songs as properly, humbly and giddily speaking with a crammed-in crowd.
That fever pitch swiftly sags, although. Sophie is joined onstage by her first singer, a geezer referred to as Gaz. He leads the instrumentalists by means of a collection of Imposter Syndrome songs, faring decently given what number of completely different voices have been on the factor. But that’s seemingly not what the turnout tonight is for; most of the attendees arrived in shirts devoted to AC/DC, Iron Maiden and different old style superstars, and any urge for food for the covers that made Sophie a sensation goes nearly completely unfed. Throughout 80 minutes, followers get simply three reinterpretations from yesteryear: Enter Sandman and Thunderstruck back-to-back, then, later, a seemingly improvised shred with a Tremendous Mario Bros motif in it.
The night’s second and remaining singer is Marisa Rodriguez, of exhausting rockers Marisa And The Moths. Extra originals observe, and by the point Sophie et al have been onstage for an hour, the viewers has visibly thinned. The final cowl of the evening is a tackle Machine Gun Kelly’s I Suppose I’m Okay. As a pop punk observe performed to a room of exhausting rock diehards, Marisa’s announcement of it begets cheers from solely two individuals.
Sophie Lloyd is a prime tier guitarist, and it’d be ludicrous to argue in any other case. Nonetheless, what she performed tonight was somewhat at odds with what she’s recognized for, the rock and steel classics which have populated her channel for years barely current. This time, what might have been a nostalgic occasion at occasions maybe felt just a bit too perfunctory.
Watch On
Sophie Lloyd setlist: The Underworld, London – October 17, 2024
Battleground
Bulletproof Revolver
After Madness
Let it Damage
Fall of Man
Strain
Enter Sandman (Metallica cowl)
Thunderstruck (AC/DC cowl)
Gained’t You Come
Runaway
Hanging On
Guitar solo
Delusions
Imposter Syndrome
Avalanche
Decide And Jury
I Suppose I’m Okay (Machine Gun Kelly cowl)
Do Or Die
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