See Ronan Mitchell’s photos of Bar Italia and Lifeguard in our photo gallery here!

I arrived at The Concert Hall at 8:30 pm to see bar italia following three hours of economics: a brutal punishment I am made to endure every Thursday evening. As a result, I missed out on tonight’s opener, Lifeguard – a quirky garage-rock band that I undoubtedly would have enjoyed had I not been learning about the Solow Model. Stepping into the imposing historic building, I was taken aback by the sheer number of beautiful people in the crowd. Tall, vaguely British-looking men with mod cuts and their partners with jet-black hair and kitten heels filled the room as far as the eye could see. I shifted uncomfortably, my $14 Beau’s Lug Tread Lager in one hand and my giant winter coat in the other. Luckily, The Concert Hall is a spacious, 1,200-capacity venue, which gave me plenty of room to enjoy the night without worrying about being perceived by those much cooler than I.

bar italia is a three-piece indie rock band from London, England. For the first few years of their existence, they released a series of moody, fuzzy albums and EPs on fellow London musician Dean Blunt’s label World Music. After this period of relative obscurity, the band signed to Matador Records in 2023, putting out two albums, Tracey Denim and The Twits, in the same year. These releases are a little more polished than their previous work, though they retain the same downtempo, contemplative rock sound. While it’s hard to make a direct comparison to any one artist, bar italia were heavily inspired by 1990s indie bands from the US and the UK, such as The Dandy Warhols and Stereolab. 

The band’s most recent release, Some Like it Hot, which the band is currently on tour promoting, forgoes most of these musical tendencies. The songs are more upbeat with cleaner electric guitars and less serious lyrics. The musical influences on this record are very clearly those of the 2000s British post-punk revival scene – I hear English rock band Bloc Party all over this record, especially on lead single “Fundraiser.” This change in direction has been divisive: my friend, a longtime bar italia fan, sold her tickets to the show after hearing the new album. The consensus seems to be that it’s a lot less unique and ambitious than their previous records. However, I am a sucker for British post-punk revival, so I had a good time with this release, even though it doesn’t reinvent the wheel. 

bar italia began with a whisper: they kicked things off with “my kiss era,” a relatively downtempo, shoegaze-y track from their 2023 album Tracey Denim. It wasn’t until they followed with “my little tony” and “Fundraiser” that the crowd really started to get into the show. The entire setlist tended to be structured like this: a few slower, laid-back tracks, many of them fan favourites from their earlier releases, followed by more “fun” songs, which comprise the majority of Some Like It Hot. While the crowd seemed into the new tracks, especially “omni shambles” and “Plastered,” the band got the biggest reaction by playing the most popular songs from Tracey Denim: “Nurse!” and “Missus Morality.” I would have to agree with the audience that “Missus Morality” was the best song of the night – singing that chorus is just so incredibly cathartic. Each of these songs benefited from a fuzzy guitar tone and very competent vocals from all three members, though I wished the volume on everything had been turned up a little extra. 

From the moment the show started, I was captivated by bar italia’s lead singer, Nina Cristante, who waved her arms and sauntered around the stage the entire show, seemingly oblivious to the crowd in front of her. A fan blew her long hair back, giving her an almost angelic air. Overall, the band wasn’t much for talking, aside from a few breathy thank yous from Cristante. At one point, guitarist Jezmi Tarik Fehmi uttered a very British “fank yew for coming,” which incited peals of laughter from the crowd. Although the members of bar italia are people of few words, their ability to hook the audience with extremely minimal crowd interaction was extremely commendable. 

bar italia was one of the more enjoyable concert experiences I’ve had in recent memory. The band’s diverse catalogue, which ranges from uptempo rock bangers to contemplative shoegaze, made for a dynamic and high-energy evening, even with The Concert Hall’s unforgivable drink prices.