Review and Photography by Robert Barrett

Covid pushed a lot of great gigs back, for big bands that meant a delay and a financial hit. For smaller bands it also meant a year and a bit of missed growth and exposure. For Coventry’s finest Candid it meant their sold-out hometown show at the HMV Empire was pushed back by almost two years. But they say patience is a virtue, and that patience from the band and ticket holders paid off with one of the most exciting gigs to happen in the city in 2021.

For the early birds came the spoils, specifically a big line-up of supporting talent. The first act I caught was Parade, who belted their hearts out in front of their hometown. With a more electronic edge than the rest of the line-up they stood out in a great way and showed the flavour of diverse bands that Coventry possesses.

Next was Idle Noise who brought us back towards the more classic Rock and Roll sound, including some proper guitar theatrics. Strong future indie bangers got the ever-growing crowds attention. The excitement was building for candid, but the crowd gave their all to the supports.

Speaking of the headliners, under an incredible “Candid” lighting rig they stepped onto the stage. If you had just been transported to the venue with no knowledge you would have assumed that you were watching a festival headline act visiting for a special hometown show. They oozed confidence and launched straight into a killer set that showcased the entirety of their career so far, and gave a taste of what was to come next.

Older tracks such as the anthemic “Concrete Jungle” flowed seamlessly into more recent tunes such as the slick dancefloor busting “Wasted Time”. They had the crowd in the palm of their hands, for the entire set. A couple of unreleased tunes were chucked in, all sounding as good as the rest and promising a big year ahead for the band.

At the end of the set they looked truly grateful to the crowd for supporting. It should have been us that was grateful to Candid, for delivering on all the promise they have in a killer headline set.