The Garage in London’s Highbury and Islington area is one of the most versatile venues I’ve known of in the decade plus I’ve been attending gigs. Having seen many bands of the metal variety, among the hosting of the earliest incarnations of Incineration Festival and the like, I can say this place holds many good memories.

Said memories were revived and a new set were added last Thursday (7th September) when I finally got the chance to see the band who have put Turkey on the darkwave and post-punk maps.

She Past Away, hailing from a land one would not expect to have a goth or punk scene given its conservative culture but you can guarantee there to be an underground scene of any ilk in any nation that has oppressive histories. This gig had been postponed numerous times due to covid so I was excited to finally get to see these guys after a three year wait.

Another good thing about The Garage is its hosting of goth, punk and other alternative bands and it was an intriguing exploit to arrive and witness a band I’d never seen or heard of before. Ultra Sunn, hailing from Brussels opened up the night, which was already brimming with keen revellers who reminded me of many nights spent on the dancefloors of Slimelight.

It is indeed an interesting venture to see a band completely new to you as it can form your opinion of them fast and efficiently, and Ultra Sunn proved to be a catchy mix of dark electronica and some post-punk style buzzes that had me swaying jovially in time to the tunes.

Vocalist Sam Huge led the electronic invasion of the Islington venue with memorable repetitive cries and croons that wouldn’t have looked out of place on a decent Depeche Mode or Covenant release and accomplice Gaelle Souflet was hard at work blasting tunes from the group’s devices that covered some dark and volatile themes.

I’d say this was a fun discovery which was appreciated by me and the rest of the crowd around me who were singing and swaying to this duo with a level of delight unseen on a typical Thursday night in the city.

Overall I’d recommend Ultra Sunn to those who enjoy dark and fuzzy electronic tunes that cover some of the harder, darker sides of life like the anxieties and social challenges that face common people today. One very good start to the evening indeed.

Ultra Sunn’s performance had certainly hyped up the crowd by this point and after a short, spinetingling break the lights dimmed once again and the ever-swelling crowd broke into cheers of rapture for the two men we’d all been waiting to see.

Volkan Kaner and Doruk Ozturkcan, known to the music world as She Past Away were once again gracing London with a dead catchy blend of post-punk strings and EBM/darkwave style electrics that anyone who loves a good synth driven dance piece would bop to.

Singing works in their native tongue, these Turks had each and every one of us in the palm of their hands from the moment the first note rang out. She Past Away have garnered a very strong following here in the UK in all the years I’ve known them and I could see here and now why they were so loved and weren’t going to vanish anytime soon.

This was another band who meant business and deserved their place in the current gothic/darkwave musical canon. SPA had mastered the ability to create memorable songs that you can either sing along to or dance happily with even if you don’t speak Turkish and that is quite an achievement for a language of which I cannot name any other alternative artist.

The venue was fully brimming now as this sold out show danced, swayed and applauded lovingly as the Turks ground on through buzzing guitar-driven melodies covering themes of a gloomy yet heartwarming nature – the best one can expect from any artist deemed gothic.

But sadly, all good things must come to an end, and I like most of the crowd were crying out for an encore that sadly wasn’t fulfilled. Despite the disappointment there, it shows just how impressive SPA are on a crowd and it meant they’ll be back in the fairly near future.

Great job She Past Away, you gave London a beautifully gloomy start to the weekend and we hope to see you again soon.

Review by Demitri Levantis

Photos by Dovalde Gaidelionyte (https://www.instagram.com/dova_photography)