2024-07-09 | Spanish Love Songs | Lafayette, London |

A late train home from London gives me the perfect opportunity to break my hiatus and actually capture some thoughts while the sweat from the evening still permeates my skin.

My second viewing of Spanish Love Songs of 2024 wasn’t actually of my own making. With the release of their album Brave Faces Everyone landing in the year that must not be named, the LA group never had chance to tour this now fan favourite album. So when word got out about an intimate gig showcasing the album in its entirety, hordes of emos did their darndest to snag a ticket. Mine was purchased by a friend who had a conversation with himself without my knowing, ultimately deciding to take a punt on securing my spot. I recently learned of Spanish Love Songs supporting The Gaslight Anthem the following day in my more regular haunt of Rock City, Nottingham, but this one managed to clash with the unimaginable: England in the semifinals of a major football tournament.

Given I’d struggle finding an excuse to expense this London trip, I booked myself an off-peak return and landed in the capital for around 2pm after a damp AF train ride (and I was in the carriage with working aircon).

With a good few hours of work left I somewhat unconventionally found a corner in the KGX Prezzo and met a friend who had also found themselves in London and discussed our forthcoming frolic in Lisbon. After sheltering from the summer rain in Franco Manca, I was stunned to recognise a spot of notoriety from the brilliant The Thick of It, which is, as it turns out, actually a newspaper office.

At this point, I was still undecided on whether I’d be heading home that night or finding somewhere to crash, so I did a dummy run of the walk back to the train. 5 minutes tops - handy!

After meeting the my “old man emo” partners for the evening we headed to a cool burger and beer shack where I ordered a raspberry wheat beer and exuded surprise despite seeing “framboise” in the name.

Lafayette proved to be one of the most distinctive venues I’ve had the pleasure of visiting. Crudely tiled floors, wood panelling and terracotta gives the place a feel of a hybrid old western bar/speakeasy. The promise of an intimate venue was well founded, with our trio finding a spot at a fairly acute angle from the stage, not many steps from the threshold. In contrast to its width and ignoring the balcony, this has to be one of the shallowest gig floors I’ve come across.

Still without their bassist, the band took to the art deco stage to the jubilation of the fans who, as some exclaimed in one of my recorded videos, all to some extent realise their fandom puts them in a strange cult of society. With Brave Faces Everyone not having the runtime to fill a whole set, the band declared they’d kick off the night with some warmups from the preceding album, Schmaltz.