Style, sound and utter carnage: inside bar italia’s first tour stop at The Dome to celebrate their new album.
The weeks before the Bar Italia concert, me and my friends hunted through every Instagram story in hopes that anyone would be selling tickets to see one of the most spirited and fascinating British bands in years. Unfortunately for us, everyone was holding tight onto their own.
bar italia released their third album Some Like It Hot, their sharpest release yet, on Friday, 17th and kicked off the tour in London with a sold-out show before heading out on a world tour that will wrap up with another London gig at the Roundhouse in March 2025. I abuse my press privileges and talk my way onto the guest list, with a plus one. I watched my friends argue in the group chat for three days.
After a week of dealing with the seasonal flu and a new job, it’s Saturday. I put some eyeliner on, and Limebike with my guest of choice to The Dome, the Tufnell Park venue where legends like Blur, Noel Gallagher, or more recently the Irish post-punk band Fontaines D.C. have performed. We take too long to finish our pre-drinks, we are late.
We’re queuing at the entrance, standing behind Seán McGirr, McQueen’s creative director, so we must be just on time. McGirr is wearing the studded leather bomber jacket from his SS24 collection, my gay boy-friend by my side quickly checks the price on the McQueen website and adds it to his wishlist. No better spot to promote your clothes than in line for a good concert.
We miss the opener, Xmal. The guy next to us swears it was great, a lot of my friends follow the artist on Instagram so he must be right – modern day judgement. The before show playlist included Iggy Pop’s The Passenger, and other songs I cannot remember. The smoking area is filled with hot girls and hot guys, everyone is dressed up, and I spot more than one person wearing ripped black tights. We head back inside just in time for the playlist to change drastically: “Ladies and gentlemen, this is Mambo Number Five”, the Lou Bega song starts playing and the three band members come out dancing as they take their spots.
“A little bit of Monica in my life, a little bit of Erica by my side…” As the song ends, and with no introduction (they said maybe four words during the whole concert), the trio start playing “Fundraiser”, the first track in the new record. Nina Cristante, the band’s calm and cool centre, looks mesmerising in a mini version of the McQueen sunray-pleated silk chiffon SS24 dress. The dress alone makes me drop any reservations I had about McGirr’s McQueen, who, by the way, is next to me, very proudly filming Nina as she dances in front of a fan, the silk floating in the air. A great dress doesn’t need any overly produced mise en scène, the flowy fabric holds the crowd spellbound for over an hour.
The band’s energy on stage and their live performance perfectly balances their low-res visuals and scarce words. They’re not trying too hard, and it works. In the crowd, I bump into familiar faces I always see on Friday nights — models, writers, a bit of a who’s who of the city’s creative scene, mixed with angsty twenty-somethings. Stylist Ch’lita Collins emerges from backstage wearing a T-shirt that says, “It’s OK, I am with the band.” Everyone is euphorically dancing, jumping, sweating, and the younger section of the crowd is shouting lyrics to songs that have only been out for two days.
As I head to Dalston after the show to continue my night, two guys in the nearly empty bus are playing Marble Arch by Bar Italia, “rain in London town, it reflects all the feelings of people around” the lyrics go. In North London on Saturday, though, there was not a hint of rain.
Words – Moira Gonzalez
