SPRINTS
The Thekla, Bristol - 11th April 2024
Support: The New Cut
This was, surprisingly, only my second time at the Thekla, the first being waaaaaay back in 2007 for Kristin Hersh. Not sure why my visits to one of the most unique venues in the country (the world?) are so infrequent, but there you are.
Support came from local band The New Cut, who were pretty decent, but I felt the sound could perhaps have been better for them. Sadly, that did seem to be the theme for the night.
Sprints broke through just as fellow Dubliners Fontaines D.C. were becoming huge. In fact, there was something of a real buzz around the Irish capital's music scene, and Sprints were among the best of the many, many bands coming out of there at the time. This show was completely sold out. I hoped that they could emulate the fiery, confrontational energy from said record onstage.
But the sound let them down. Everything sounded so muddy. I feared the worst when the explosion that greets listeners at the 2-minute mark of the studio version of opening track Ticking sounded so flat on the night. It was difficult to discern what was guitar, what was bass and what words Karla was actually singing.
It didn't get much better, unfortunately, and what should have been an extraordinary set from one of my favourite new bands just left me feeling a little deflated. Not even the astonishing Literary Mind, one of the best songs of the decade, could lift my spirits as the sound just couldn't do it justice.
My hope was I'd get another opportunity to catch Sprints again in a different venue at some point in the hope I would get the experience I'd built myself up for. In the meantime, my only encounter with Sprints can only be described as disappointing.
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