The Joy Formidable

Welsh alt-rock titans The Joy Formidable, featuring the indomitable Ritzy Bryan, sticksman supreme Matthew Thomas and master fret-tormenter Rhydian Dafydd, are vital indeed. Busting at the seams with powerhouse singles like “Austere”, “Cradle” and “Cholla”, their veritable treasure trove of music will excite and impress in equal measure. What sets the band apart from other rock acts is their propensity for depth and thought-provoking, though somewhat cryptic lyrics.T here's very few contenders to the hard rock crown in the limelight anymore, but The Joy Formidable are definitely, unquestionably, up there. Their sets are often bombastic displays of intense rock riffery, inciting metal-horn flinging and downpours of shout-alongs. While their debut The Big Roar was an angular exercise in intelligent indie-rock, their 2013 sophomore, entitled Wolf's Law, was a prog. rock paradigm, thrashed with psych-nods and dips into extended instrumentals. Cathartic too, it dealt with loss, identity and home. Despite only numbering three in their ranks, the band manage to cultivate all these separate elements in their live shows, enabling raucous dance moments and reverent slow passages. It's a varied set they perform, but that will leave you looking the way Ritzy does when noodling away: beaming and slightly glazed-over.

There are very few bands who can boast to creating the same high volume sonar spaces as Welsh rock trio The Joy Formidable. One of Dave Grohl's personal favourite new artists and a huge hit in America, the shoe gazing alt-rock outfit have an incredible selection of tracks from their first two studio albums and remain criminally underrated in their homeland.

The music could easily fill stadiums as demonstrated during support slots for the likes of Muse and threatens to lift the roof clean off the intimate venues they are often confined to. There is great variation in the crunching, crushing 'A Heavy Abacus' with the lighter anthem 'Austere' via the spanning, cinematic 'This Ladder is Ours'. The music this band creates is absolutely staggering, I truly believe they are one of the most exciting rock outfits to break in a very long time so head to the shows before the rest of the world begin to share this sentiment and quickly sell out the tours.

Amazing show -- I'm still grinning from the opportunity to see TJF up close at such a small venue. The premium fan ticket was 100% worth it: got to chat with Ritzy, Rhydian, and Matt with about 20 other people, then enjoy a few acoustic performances before watching them do a sound check.

As you'd expect from TJF, the energy was palpable and the band was clearly having a great time. Lots of engagement with the audience to make it feel like a shared experience. Later in the show, Ritzy announced they were going to do something "extra weird". They came off stage into the crowd and performed an acoustic rendition of "Liana" to an audience member whom they'd learned was named Liana. That was a highlight. Especially for Liana, I suspect. :-)

Don't miss TJF if you get the chance to see them live.

The Joy Formidable band seemed to be very comfortable in the setting in Milwaukee. They were so fan friendly..They honored most of the audience requests. The pre-show V.I.P. acoustic show for a group of about 40 of us was a complete delite! And they gave us a free specially made CD as well. It was a great evening and got to meet and talk to them all after the show as well.

One of the more ridiculous shows I've ever been to. They were very talkative, the music was very loud, and they had lots of guitar solos. They also played an acoustic set as their first encore in the middle of the pit, and later handed a guitar to the crowd just to make noise with. Very crazy.

I love this band. They really know how to make a live show special. The songs are not direct replays of album cuts. Each night is a unique experience. Ritzy was sick and still played a memorable show. This is my fifth time seeing them and I will always come back for more!

The show was fantastic. It was a very intimate experience. The staff was polite and helpful. All and all we had a wonderful time. My only negative comment would be that there were two very intoxicated hecklers that needed to be asked to leave.

This was such a great show! The venue was awesome, small enough to be intimate but enough space so I didn't feel like canned tuna. They played an acoustic set, with plenty of songs from the new album as well as some familiar ones.

The band rocks! I had the opportunity to meet Ritzy and that was a joy. (No pun intended) ..She took the time to stop what she was doing to take a pic with me. And when the show started, it was nothing short of electric!

Played at the Fox Cabaret Vancouver. A night of crazy alt rock. Guitars were smashed and being played off the floor. Drum sticks were snapped during the encore and the remnants were given to the crowd (safely).