I had the pleasure of watching Wasia Project, an English pop duo consisting of siblings Olivia Hardy and William Gao Hardy, at Patterns near the Brighton seafront.
The duo have a diverse mix of genres, including Jazz, Bedroom pop and classical, with all songs having a soft and pretty undertone. Olivia had a beautiful voice, and did the majority of the singing; where her brother, who still obviously had a great voice, was mainly on the keyboard and doing backup vocals.
The songs were very well written with some being quite emotional and slow, while others were much more upbeat and had the crowd jumping up and down.
Wasia Project At Patterns In Brighton
The gig was in the basement of Patterns which is a relatively small room, it was nearly packed to the brim which created an intimate and interactive atmosphere. On one side of the room, there was a bar which was relatively busy at all times, yet there was never more than a couple minutes wait before you could order.
Despite the crowd being full, I still got a very good view and there were no real view obstructions in the room; with the help of it being a small room, there was no way you couldn’t see the duo.
I didn’t have much knowledge of the Wasia Project before but this didn’t hinder my experience at all; even though I couldn’t sing along to the lyrics, I was more than capable of dancing along.
There was a great beat and rhythm to each song which with the vocals resulted in a very enjoyable listening experience and built a fun, dancy vibe. It was clear that there were big fans in the audience, many were singing along and there was a lovely relationship between the audience and the act.
Olivia and William would interact with the crowd, ask them to sing along, give them background to the songs and overall encourage them to have a good time. The varying songs built a different atmosphere but they ended on a high, playing a very upbeat song and getting the audience to crouch down and jump up at the last chorus; it was a feel-good end to the night.
Address: 10 Marine Parade, Kemptown, Brighton, BN2 1TL
To see what’s going on at Patterns and book tickets: https://patternsbrighton.com/
