London’s MOSES signed of 2019 with a home city gig at Water Rats. It has been another year of great singles, and crucially, real creative growth.
Then, mid set, the bombshell was dropped. Frontman Victor announces lead guitarist Rory is playing his last show with the band. Two years ago, MOSES were very much a band that had a great frontman. On this night, they were tight as fuck, and it was Rory dying on his MOSES sword in glory.
Maybe it was supporting The Blinders in 2018 that turned the corner for Rory. Their slot with the Manchester/Doncaster three piece, all of equal greatness, returned MOSES to Cro Cro Land this past April ablaze. A spiteful punkiness permeated their rock n roll credentials to take them to another level. This power, was out in full force at Water Rats.
To date, MOSES have been a band who have been one paced. Luckily, it was always full tilt and exciting. ‘King Size’, ‘Cause You Got Me’ and singalong anthem ‘River Thames’ were all prime cuts of this energy. However, they’ve never fully done Victor’s song writing justice.
Now, with ‘Joy’ and ‘Findings’ in their live arsenal, they have the ability to take you on his emotional roller coaster. As he sings “give me hope, give me love, give me something that can help me find you” echoes of U2’s ‘Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For’ fill the room. His sense of loneliness in a city as overpopulated as London, is the modern day equivalent of Andrew Lincoln’s career defining performance as Egg in ‘This Life’.
What the future holds for MOSES post-Rory remains to be seen but, if this is all it was going to be, its how you sign off in style. It was Ali Cook scoring a ton in his last for England. With the growth shown in 2019 in the studio, it would be one hell of a waste though.
*image courtesy of Ana Ben Ana