Cassyette | Kid Bookie
Manchester Academy 3
September 15th 2022
Essex girl Cassyette is making quite a splash as the Nu Metal/electro-pop new kid on the block. A burgeoning social media presence, high-profile festival appearances, and support slots with the likes of You Me At Six and Frank Carter not to mention sold-out halls on the current tour suggest that the future is very bright indeed.
Her slightly Jekyll and Hyde persona adds intrigue. Wiki tells us she was educated at a convent school and the University of Westminster and she has recently posted a wholesome version of the Harry Styles hit, As It Was, on YouTube – slightly unlikely credentials for a hardcore goth princess. However, none of us are all light or shade and arguments about rock ‘authenticity’ usually prove redundant. After all, the self-proclaimed Satanic Majesty, Mick Jagger, attended the LSE and it never did him any harm (yes kids – the Stones were considered threatening).
Opening the show is Londoner Kid Bookie and this is an incendiary set indeed. Probably best known for his collaborations with Corey Taylor, his is a loud, energetic and in your face fusion of hip hop and metal backed by a band which looks and sounds great. KB is a grinning rabble-rouser whose cover of Radio Head’s Creep becomes a manifesto rather than an apology and is lapped up by the audience who seem to be happy to be part of the same outsider clan. Liquor, Sex, Weed also gives an indication of where Bookie is coming from and Scars proves prescient after he sheds blood for the cause after an over-enthusiastic dive. The frontman clearly means it when he repeatedly tells us he doesn’t ‘give a fuck’, introducing one song with a topical ‘She don’t know this song but we’re going to make her hear it from hell’ (don’t shoot the messenger). One way or another, I think we’ll be hearing a lot more from Kid Bookie.
Cassyette takes the stage all lean, mean and sinewy with a look of rock phase P!NK and a hint of Billy Idol smirk thrown in for good measure. Dressed in low-slung black parachute trousers and cropped tank top emblazoned with ‘Life’s A Riot’ she certainly looks the part. Opener Picture Perfect is loud and powerful and the singer lets rip with a typically menacing vocal before launching into her signature song Dear Goth, a prayer to a dark deity, as she prowls the stage like a smiling demon (albeit one with great teeth). For Behind Closed Doors, the singer is joined by Hannah, apparently a fan, who does a great job of singing along with her heroine – a nice touch which suggests that Cassyette is kind of pleasant for all the doom-laden lyrics.
Although she has already played the big stages, the club environment at Academy 3 is an ideal setting which allows the singer an intimacy with the crowd which can be lacking in bigger venues. Her songs of relationships and mental turmoil obviously come from a young female’s perspective but the audience is pleasingly diverse and is clearly on side after the opening salvo. Their obvious enthusiasm is rewarded with the epic September Rain before the singer slows things down with a contemplative cover of Lil Peep’s Falling Down. If there is one criticism at this point, at least from a purist’s point of view, it would be of the excessive use of backing tracks. The band consists only of a guitarist and drummer giving a slightly incongruous look as the bass and synth sounds blast out. While this focuses attention on the star of the show and it makes sense to travel light at the moment, it does create a slight sense of rock karaoke and inevitably reduces the scope for spontaneity. Maybe one to look at in future, especially with the bigger platforms beckoning.
Recent singles Mayhem and Sad Girl Summer veer slightly towards mainstream and are rewarded with eager audience participation before the punk energy of Like That kicks in. The introspective Dead Roses follows before the mood is lifted with the splendidly bouncy new song Boom which is so much fun that Cassy might consider letting her hair down a bit more often. Petrichor is the smell of rain falling on dry soil but the song of the same name is nothing to do with bucolic charm, rather a gothic metal behemoth complete with death growls. Disappointingly, set closer Prison Purse is rudely interrupted by a loud alarm and, while the band plays on, this LTW correspondent makes a hasty tactical retreat towards the exit doors wondering if the venue is still smouldering after the Kid Bookie set.
The world is Cassyette’s oyster at present and it will be fascinating to see what the future holds. At times straddling the fence between metal and pop, she may have a juggling act on her hands to keep fans of the former on board whilst cashing in on the hits which the latter could definitely offer. The first couple of albums will be an interesting indication of the direction she chooses to follow. For now, she’s enjoying the ride and picking up more and more people on the way – and long may that continue.
Please note: Use of these images in any form without permission is illegal. If you wish to contact the photographer please email: mel@mudkissphotography.co.uk
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Cassyette links Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
Find Kid Bookie on Facebook| Twitter
All words by Robin Boardman. More writing from Robin on Louder Than War can be found at his author’s archive
All photos by Melanie Smith – Louder Than War | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Portfolio
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