Review: The Karma Effect Live at The Crown Inn

On the same day their debut album was released, The Karma Effect put on an all-out rock n roll show which showed what they can do and what the future could bring.

The18th of March will be a day to remember for the members of The Karma Effect. For starters, their debut album came out and gained a lot of praise and a well-deserved spot on the Official Independent Album Charts a week later. Not only that, the band was about to play a hometown show in Oxted to celebrate the occasion.

One thing I have to say is that the Crown Inn pulled out all the stops for the band. I thought I was going to be inside a pub but instead, the Inn had an outdoor set up under a marquee which was complete with light, a bar and a merch stand. A perfect stage set up for the band to put on a show. Whilst myself and my friends were outside the marquee, We also bumped into Keybordest Seb Emmins, who spoke to us about his nerves and excitement for the show and also how they had been at the pub all day getting ready for the show. All pointing towards a great concert in store.

Something which sticks out about this band is their sheer ability to mix old-school rock n roll with a modern twist. This was in full display throughout their set. One great example of this would be 'The River' where the band opened the song with a similar opening rift to Don Broco's' Whole Truth' but as the song kicks into gear with Emmins keyboard work and Lead Singers Henery Gottelier's incredible vocals, the song then switches up to more of the sounds of bands such as Led Zepplin and Aerosmith. This mix is great for new and old rock fans alike and in a live setting sounded perfect.

The set was not exclusively songs from the new album. There were also songs from The Karma Effects' small yet impressive back catalogue such as songs such as 'Better Days' and 'Shine On' which went down well with the dedicated fan base that the band have been building up since the early days of the pandemic.

The chemistry between the whole band is something that has to be admired about The Karma Effect. Henery explained that the band have only played a handful of shows before this one and I got the feeling that this band had been playing for maybe ten or twenty years. All of the members had their moments to shine in the gig. Henery acted as the perfect frontman with his vocals and charisma as well as some amazing guitar solos, Seb had many keyboard solos throughout the sets, Robbie Blake showed off his great guitar work and Liam Quinn and Ash Powell provided a thunderous beat on bass and drums respectively. Put this all together and you have a great set of musicians and best mates who gel so well together on stage.

Another highlight would be the 'Save Me', which was dedicated to Blakes's mother who passed away from cancer during the pandemic. Henery explained how the song was liked by Blakes's dad and would have it on repeat. The pandemic has affected us all in different ways and some of us lost loved ones but it's amazing to see the resilience of the band to make a great song out of a sad situation and that comes through in a live setting too.

A few weeks later, my friend Josh Nonet-Black was able to speak to the lead singer Henery Gottelier about the show and hear is what he had to say.

"The show was absolutely amazing. For us as a band, to have an album in the charts and then play a sold home town show within the first 16 months of being a band is something we never thought would happen. It all went by in a little bit of a blur, but it was incredible to see so many people in the corwd who have championed the band since we began"

Many thanks to Henery for taking his time to talk about the show and to Josh for speaking to him.

Overall, This is only the beginning of The Karma Effect. The confidence they have on stage is unmatched and should help them go far in their future endeavours. Looking forward to seeing them play at festivals someday in the near future.