Review: Sundara Karma at Albert Hall

When Sundara Karma walked out onto the stage at Albert Hall, Manchester, to Gwen Stefani's Hollaback Girl, I knew I was in store for a fantastic night. There had already been giant, colourful balloons thrown into the audience prior to their entrance and then that song just topped it all off for me.

It could have been the gin or the encapsulating, electric atmosphere that rockets you to planet FEEL GOOD at a gig,  but whatever it was, Sundara Karma had won me over from the start.

With January being the month of the release of their debut album, Youth is Only Ever Fun In Retrospect and then following on with their headline tour which started at the beginning of  February, the band have already had a busy start to the year to say the least.

But that didn't affect their performance, with them giving their heart and soul to the Manchester audience.

The band itself is made up of four guys who have shoulder length hair which is perfect for hair flipping to songs (which they done a lot of.) As well as having really good hair I  should also mention that they are really good musicians.

The set kicked off with the track A Young Understanding where vocalist, Oscar Pollock, bedazzled the audience with not only his voice but with his choice of stage outfit. A pair of flares accompanied by a leather, look jacket, which was open to reveal his bare chest covered in glitter as well as one side of his face.

At a gig you always expect the first song to set you up for the rest of the night, to get everyone up on their feet, jumping and swaying in time to the music and that's just what A Young Understanding did.

The repetitive verse in the song which consists of chanting 'Reach for a sign, reach for understanding' echoed around the venue, the band and audience in unison as one.

Sundara Karma had Manchester in their pocket and that's where we stayed all night.

The set followed with a whole load of feel good tunes that had me dreaming of summer and festivals.  Like Vivienne, where Oscar actually got down off the stage and got as close to the crowd as he possibly could, without being directly in the mosh pits that were happening.

For me the highlight of the gig had to be when they performed She Said which was also a favourite with the crowd.

Another best bit for me was the bands cover of Luther Vandross's Never Too Much, which left the majority of the crowd, which were teenagers, thinking they were at the wrong gig and left me feeling rather old as I was loving every minute of it.

My only criticism is that I wish Flame was later on in the set list, the perfect song for the encore if you ask me.

A confetti cannon to end with and everyone was definitely on planet FEEL GOOD with me.

If you want to catch Sundara Karma in action they're next back in Manchester, headlining Dot To Dot festival, Friday 26th May.