It’s starting to rain in cold and gloomy south London but I’m at our beloved independent venue Omeara, tucked away between London Bridge and Borough Market. The vibes are high as I enter the 320-capacity venue, as tonight is no ordinary show. We’re all here for Cassia’s first show of 2024, and we’ll be hearing their new EP tracks live in London for the first time.

Indie-rock band Cassia, who describe themselves as ‘tropical vibes but not tropical guys’ are here tonight to celebrate the release of their much-anticipated new EP, ‘Home Soon…’ released in early February of this year. It’s their first release since their 2022 album, ‘Why You Lacking Energy?’ and with several singles released towards the end of last year, the sold out show is packed with fans who’ve been memorising the lyrics for tonight. They’ve been here for a few hours already, taking part in the ping-pong tournament that was scheduled through the Instagram broadcast channel ahead of the show.

The energy is palpable and electric before the show even begins.

Some of Cassia’s biggest UK-based fans are here tonight and with no support act, it’s straight into the main event. After the games, Rob (lead vocals, guitar), Lou (bass, vocals) and Jacob (drums, vocals), take to the stage and dive straight into ‘Gamma Rays’, a fan favourite from the new EP. The crowd immediately match the vibe, belting out the chorus: ‘When I found that purpose, yeah / Shot me down just like gamma rays.’ It’s a well-received track – setting the tone for the rest of the night – and with the volume the fans at Omeara are singing at, you can’t help but think that the people in this room are the main of the reason why it received 50,000 Spotify streams in its first week.

Next up is the breezy ‘High Tones’, another new one that was released last June. The band’s smiles are visible from the back of the room at the sound of people singing ‘Feels like I’m dreaming in colour / Your words, they start to stutter / Tied up in only high tones / My legs are not so stable / These lights are never fading / Only you and I know’ with them. Those smiles remain plastered on their faces as they continue with 2021’s ‘Vitamins’ and ‘Drifting’.

They continue with the Cassia classics, performing ‘Slow’ with the first of the night’s special guests, Sofy, who’s having just as much fun as the crowd. Next up are favourites from some of their earlier releases, ‘Loosen Up’, ‘Get Up Tight’ and ‘Weekender’ before another special guest is brought out – Tayo Sound. They performed their 2022 collaboration, ‘Confidence’, a sunshine-y track that the band have said is about supporting others with low self-esteem, or the feeling of having someone support you when you’re in that state of mind. The alt-indie track is as tropical as the rest of their last album.

Barrelling straight into one of the band’s biggest songs to date, ‘100 Times Over’, it’s like an explosion of energy has gone off inside Omeara. Lead vocalist Rob says, ‘We’ve been in our bubble and it’s so nice to play a show in London,’ before diving into the next track ‘whatstheuse’, kicking off a straight run of tracks from the ‘Home Soon…’ EP.

Next up was new track ‘Find My Way Around’, where the grooving bassline was a particular highlight and then the final special guests of the night arrive to perform their collaboration. The Mancunian band were clearly happy to have fellow indie band KAWALA up on the stage with them. Bouncy, effervescent and playful, their collaboration, ‘Circular Motion’, encompasses all the best elements of Cassia and KAWALA and blends them into a classic Cassia indie groove track, the crowd singing back ‘If it feels right deep down / How could we ever start / Getting lost in circular motion / If it feels like somehow we’ll end up back at the start / Getting lost I see you in focus’.

We end the night with two Cassia classics: ‘Motions’ and ‘Right There’, both from their 2022 album. We bounce into rhythmic ‘Motion’, after which Rob says ‘Oh yeah, we’ve got more shows coming’ as an afterthought as he picks a raffle winner who will get two tickets to Cassia’s next London show. We end the night on a high with Cassia’s biggest hit (to date, anyway), the audience’s voices echoing the lyrics back to the band: ‘Positive that someday / Looking up at your way / Dreaming on the light / That had touched my head / I keep seeing, I keep seeing.’

Before we know it, we’re back out in the cold London air, the tropical indie vibes left reluctantly behind us. If Cassia’s latest EP and the announcement of future shows is anything to go by, we’ve got plenty to get excited for.

SETLIST:

1. Gamma Rays
2. High Tones
3. Vitamins
4. Drifting
5. Slow – with Sofy
6. Loosen Up
7. Get Up Tight
8. Weekender
9. Confidence – with Tay Sounds
10. 100 Times Over
11. What’s The Use
12. Find My Way Around
13. Circular Motions – with KAWALA
14. Motions
15. Right There