Last Wednesday Exetera headed down to Cavern to check out Exeter’s newest student night, Kink. We weren’t sad to hear that a new night had moved to good old Cavern; it was heartening to once again be greeted by those out-of-date posters and retro-styled bartenders. And if Cellar Door has cornered the student market for the majority of house music nights, then it’s about time Cavern did the same for the live music scene. The initial idea behind Kink was to showcase some of the UK’s best up-and-coming bands followed by DJ sets to carry on the festivities into the early hours of the morning.
We might not have known the night’s live acts beforehand, but Dive In and Mausi are bands we’re sure to hear more of in the future. Dive In began the party with an impressive serving of catchy indie dance, but it was the headliners, Mausi, who stole the stage. While their set was a little on the short side, their synthpop tunes had an energetic youthfulness which filled the dancefloor, proof of their growing popularity. Their sound falls somewhere between Passion Pit and Bastille, and teamed with the agile vocals of lead singer Daisy Finetto, they have all the necessary ingredients to make serious waves in the Nu Disco music scene.
The crowds thinned out after Mausi had finished their live set, but for those that remained the night was far from over. There was a slightly disheartening lull once the live bands had packed up, but the moment the DJs returned things were well and truly back on track.
Exetera caught up with Lewis Lawrence, one of the guys behind Kink, to see how he thought the night panned out: ‘We’re really happy about how our launch night went. We really had no idea how many people would turn up to the launch night; its a completely different night to anything else in Exeter so we didn’t have any other nights to compare to. But loads of people turned up and everyone seemed like they had a good time, so we were really pleased. The bands also really enjoyed themselves – their tour manager said it was one of the most fun UK dates he has ever done! Mausi and Dive In have both said they are really keen to come back next year, so overall we feel like it couldn’t have gone any better.’
In the past few years Exeter students have worked hard to showcase some of the best emerging artists in the country, but this focus has been primarily on dance music and DJs. While that’s still cause for excitement, it’s refreshing to welcome a new night which allows students to enjoy great live music and get their dance on during the same event. Kink had some minor problems on its first night, yes, but it has the potential to be a staple of Exeter student nightlife, and we at Exetera can’t wait to see flourish.
KINK takes the place of Beats & Bass at Cavern, every other Wednesday night. Find out about Beats & Bass’s relocation to Cellar Door here.