Lambrini Girls + Bimini at War Child BRITs Week at The Garage, London: Live review and photo galleries

As I got to The Garage for just past 7pm on a soggy February Tuesday, the queue was already snaking outside impatiently. An array of punks and garden variety misfits gathered in the iconic, Islington venue to experience Lambrini Girls unleash their unmistakable brand of chaos and moshing in an intimate setting that we haven’t seen them in for a while – their last gig was at the Kentish Town Forum, nearly four times the capacity of The Garage, and we knew we were in for a treat.

The 600-strong crowd was warmed up with some quality rave bangers and a fierce rendition of Peaches‘ ‘Fuck The Pain Away’ by none other than Bimini flawlessly owning the decks and getting us ready for the Big Dick Energy that we were about to be greeted with. But before that happened, the stage welcomed the representative from War Child, the long standing partner of the BRITs Week, thanks to whom we were able to see Lambrini Girls that night.

Soon Phoebe Lunny and Selin Macieira-Boşgelmez accompanied by their touring drummer Misha Phillips took to the stage and delivered a staggering set of their unapologetically fierce anthems, all the way from ‘Bad Apple’ via ‘God’s Country’ to ‘No Homo’. Every song delivers a pointed commentary on some of the most pressing issues that we face in society today, but what makes their shows unmissable is what happens in between the songs. The huge mosh pits full of smiley faces (“What do we do when someone falls in the mosh pit?” Phoebe asked the crowd, and like polite schoolchildren we all replied in unison “WE PICK THEM UP!”). Phoebe Lunny wearing a jacket with Cerys Murphy’s artwork that said “MORE LUV, MORE CULTURE, MORE IMMIGRANTS”. The unapologetic celebration of queerness that is the Queer Legend circle pit.

Once again one of the most touching statements came from their drummer Misha Phillips, whose drum kit was adorned with the slogan “Trans Kids Deserve Better”, which was also the opening line of her speech.

Hard earned pieces of human rights are being stripped from us, now is the time to organise, make protests and donate to health funds. To our trans intersex non binary siblings – this is our time, the world is ours!

Lambrini Girls then delivered another staggering statistic about sexual harassment: only about 6-8% of sexual assault cases end up being convicted and less than 10% perpetrators end up in prison. Phoebe delivered a battle cry:

What we can do in our community is to believe the victims, and we have to call out any bullshit we see – this is how we make change happen.

While introducing ‘Craig David’, the audience participation was a yet another vital rallying point:

When I say Craig – you say David
Craig? – David!
Craig? – David!
When I say Lambrini – you say Girls
Lambrini? – Girls!
Lambrini? – Girls!
When I say Fuck – you say Reform
Fuck – Reform!
Fuck – Reform!

As always, they reminded us that their shows are for everyone regardless of gender or sexual orientation, but they asked the audience to make space at the front for anyone who isn’t a cis, white, straight man for ‘Boys In The Band’, making sure that everyone had a chance to enjoy the show from the best vantage point. And this is what makes them (in my humble opinion) one of the most important voices in music these days – they live, breathe and bleed inclusion and their live shows are an unabashed celebration of that.

BRITs Week is produced by War Child, the charity for children affected by conflict with AEG Presents, and BPI. 

Fans can enter the prize draw and win a pair of tickets to see the artist of their choice, for just a £10 per entry donation to War Child. Available HERE.