So, Augustine. Swedish Indie musician, new to my own ears too. My friend Keyonte asks me to come to his concert with her for my birthday; I say of course. I listen to his music to familiarise myself with it before I go, fall in love with his tracks Guts and Coast, and am I the happiest that I went now? absolutely.
On April 19th I saw Augustine live at the Garage. It's a small intimate venue, and we were very happy to be front row. First comes on Dutch Criminal Record (look out for my interview with them soon), who were amazing. And then Augustine. Playing almost all his songs from his new album, I knew the atmosphere would be, for no better word, vibey.
It was clear to me that even on this intimate scale that performing is something that's scary but exciting to Augustine. He proves himself to push through any nerves and performs at his best. With a groovy stage presence, kind words being shared, and the sheer disbelief that others know the words to his songs (sorry for scaring you during Guts Augustine, but I simply needed to scream that entire song), Augustine is a very genuine person and performer.
I had the absolute pleasure of meeting Augustine after the show. A kind, quiet, slightly nervous guy with nothing but kindness in his heart. He thanked everyone, even annoying drunk older women who hogged his time whilst plenty of teens and young adults waited patiently to simply thank him and take a pic, so his patience is also remarkable (mine, would not be).
We spoke briefly, he mentioned how he'd seen my work as I had emailed him and how hopefully we can do an interview one day. But the main thing I wished to speak about was Guts live. Guts has been my favourite song now for a month as I write this. He left stage without even performing it, until we called for encore. And then he played an extended version of it, causing myself a scream fest.
Guts live is one of the best songs I've ever seen live, because the lungs on Augustine are insane, and I've already mentioned how often rare it can be for a musician or band to sound just like they do recorded, but Augustine does. Augustine is an incredible artist, an amazing guy, and insane live. Please, do yourself a favour and check him out.
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