Welsh rock group, The Joy Formidable, crushes it at The Roxy

An otherwise regular and boring Tuesday night was pleasantly disrupted by a powerful, entertaining, and heavy hitting performance from Welsh rock band, CUFFED UP. The night kicked off at the world famous establishment The Roxy on Sunset Blvd in Los Angeles.

The band took us through their hits from 2021 album, Asymmetry, with fun banter and storytelling to the audience. Noting some of the songs were influenced by the state of world and dependence on social media and devices. They finished the set with their 2022 single “10 for 10.” CUFFED UP was a perfect opener, as they had upbeat heavy rock beats and melodic grooves. A fitting establishment of pace for the headliner paired with an impressive nostalgia of 90’s rock.

From there, the crowd packed the small venue as The Joy Formidable prepped the stage behind The Roxy’s blue curtain. The headliner began with an uproarious introduction of “The Greatest Light is the Greatest Shade” from their 2011 album A Balloon Called Moaning. Then weaving us through hits from their 2011 album The Big Roar, like ‘Cradle’ and ‘Austere’. The placed slowed and The Roxy took a breath with their song “Silent Treatment’ off the 2013 album Wolf’s Law.

Lead singer and guitarist, Ritzy Bryan, joked on staged in between with fellow band members and peppered in small insights into the song meanings, and told stories about their cyclical tour journey over the last few years during the world pandemic.

This was the band’s last tour show of 2022 and they undoubtedly put all of themselves into performance. Overall, a very fun performance of old classics, like the long solo ending to “Whirring” and crowd pleasers from their newest album, Into the Blue. The Joy Formidable starts up their 2023 tour in March in Glasgow, UK.

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