It’s a buzzing Friday night outside Electric Bristol, with a small queue already starting to form. Security was tight...
Photos Taken by Megan Johnstone at Electric Bristol
It’s a buzzing Friday night outside Electric Bristol, with a small queue already starting to form. Security was tight, and my companion, Cherie, got stared down for her chocolate fingers and was promptly warned not to eat them inside. We made our way to the stage and made a beeline for the golden spot. Right upfront at the barriers, almost bang in the middle, was a little gap just big enough for Cherie to fill. She’s shorter than me, so I can comfortably enjoy the show over her shoulders.
At 6;30 pm sharp, Jack Gray emerged with his blonde surfer curls and Australian accent to provide us with some bedroom pop. He’d been performing with the band as the opening act for the entirety of this tour. The venue was already filling up as Jack’s angelic voice swept across the crowd, and I’ve managed to push in next to Cherie for a perfect front-row view.
The set finishes, and we are provided with a few minutes of the backstage crew scrambling to set up for the 2nd opening act, Master Peace. The drummer walks out with a messy bun and oversized shirt, as I look over to Cherie because her aura is giving. The singer emerges with a very different vibe, dressed in joggers, with boxers on top and a durag that’s basically covering his eyes.
Master Peace is a South London indie musician and released his debut album in 2024 and describes his music as ‘Slut Pop’. His latest EP, Stupid Kids, was released last Friday, with a feature from Decklan McKenna. When introducing the title track of his EP, he talks about being kicked out of school because he was stupid. He ends with the sentiment that, no matter where you come from or what your situation is, you can always make it through.
The backstage crew are back for the last time as excitement builds for the main act, Good Neighbours. The London duo, Oli Fox and Scott Ferril, formed in 2023 and released their debut EP in 2024, writing music inspired by the early 2000s excitement with raucous production and a cinematic approach to music. Their debut album, ‘Blue Sky Mentality’, was released in 2025, and the title perfectly captures the upbeat synth indie-pop, conveying a sense of freedom and wanting more out of everyday life.
Soon, the lights dim, and smoke fills the stage as dark figures float around. A drum beat fills the air with the opening tunes of ‘Suburbs’, one of my personal favourites to run to with the lyrics, ‘I heard from the suburbs, you’re a runner, and you’re fast’, making me drive my arms even faster to get up Widcombe hill. The song transitions into ‘Skipping Stones’, keeping the energy high. ‘Ripple’, the first single from their debut album, turns the venue into a club with flashing lights as everyone is dancing and jumping, screaming the lyrics. Lead vocalist, Oli Fox, has brought out a retro mic, which adds such a beautiful layer to the live sound of the song.
Oli announces that their only job tonight is for us to leave lighter, whatever state we entered in and ‘People Need People’ is the song to do just that, iterating that we should ‘build each other up until we hit the sun’. Oli asks the crowd if we’re ready to move as they start playing infectious tunes on the DJ desk perched on stage, as we’re gonna ‘Walk Walk Walk’ to the rhythm that we love. The vibe slightly settles down with ‘Starry Eyed’, a cute song about the excitement that comes with falling in love.
Throughout the entire show, I was frantically switching between trying to write everything down and attempting to take an award-winning photo when Cherie taps me on the shoulder. Annoyed for ruining my shot, I only half-listen to her, but I can barely hear what she says. When I turn my head, she is visibly freaking out, and I’m wondering if she’s lost her phone or something. She starts pointing at her bra, and after some manouvering she pulls a guitar pick out. Oli Fox’s guitar pick. The lead singer of Good Neighbours, standing a mere two feet away from us. It seems he threw his guitar pick into the crowd, and somehow it landed in her bra, right in the cleavage, just as he was singing about the one that makes him Starry Eyed. Frantically laughing, I state this can only mean they are married now, sort of like the cowboy hat rule.
As if on cue, their breakup ballad starts playing as Oli sings ‘Tell me, do you still miss the buzz?’. Luckily, they pick our spirits back up with ‘Wonderful Life’, urging us to float around, take it in and look at the sun between the clouds. They leave us floating in the sky with an instrumental interlude that leads into my favourite sound from the entire night with the ‘Kids Can’t Sleep’. The set finishes with their no.1 listened to song on Spotify as Oli tests the crowd and starts singing acapella, ‘Darling won’t you take me..’. Luckily, we pass the test as we all respond in unison with ‘Home’, and Oli states that we have been one of the loudest crowds they’ve performed to.
As the band walks off stage, we start the usual ritual of chanting ‘One more song’ and barely 1 minute later, they are back on stage. Oli states that this one is for the FIFA boys, as ‘Daisies’ featured on the FC25 soundtrack, a perfect feel-good song to end the night with. They exit the stage with a deafening cheer from the crowd as fans already start to eye up the setlist taped to the stage.
Two girls start fighting over who gets to take the last setlist that the poor security guard is trying to hand them. Luckily, we were able to speak to another fan who got the first setlist as she explained she’d been a fan ever since she saw them perform at Broadmaster in 2023, a festival in Cornwall. She graciously also let us take a picture of the setlist, which can now be enjoyed for your viewing pleasure.
Walking through Castle Park with KFC in hand and a buzzing, numb excitement that only comes from experiencing live music, I suddenly stop in my tracks. Floating up the stairs below me is the drummer from Master Peace. All my confidence leaves my body as I just stand staring as she slowly makes her way up the stairs, giving me a confused frown. My very brave friend mutters, ‘Sorry, we just saw you perform’. We exchange pleasantries and before either of us say something insane, I pull Cherie away as we walk down the stairs shrieking.
From guitar picks and running into angelic drummers, it’s safe to say we’ve had an incredible night. The only way to fully convey the electric joy this gig injected us with is for you to listen to Good Neighbours’ music and let the synth soar you to a place where happiness is a given and life doesn’t have to feel so heavy.