Republica - 30 Years of Ready To Go!

Republica play The Brook on Saturday 17 October, as part of their tour celebrating the 30th anniversary of their debut album, Ready To Go. Saffron is still at the front, and the set is built around that first record, which brought them to the charts in the mid-90s. The title track, 'Ready to Go', was the big one — it hit the alternative Top Ten in the States and made a Top 3 debut in the UK. The album itself blended 80s indie-dance with techno and alternative rock, a sound that sat somewhere between the dancefloor and the guitar band, and that's the record they're working through here.

It's a long way from where they started. Since those early days, Republica have sold over three million albums and played Glastonbury and Reading and Leeds, and they even performed at the FIFA World Cup in Qatar. Their music has cropped up in a few places lately, too — 'Ready to Go' has appeared in Captain Marvel, Yellowjackets, and Ted Lasso, so it's probably a tune you've heard recently even if you haven't followed them since the 90s. This tour is the 30th anniversary of that debut, and the set is built around it.

Opening the night are Trampolene, a Swansea band made up of Jack Jones, Wayne Thomas, and Kyle 'Mr' Williams. They describe their sound as a mix of indie rock, raw energy, and spoken word poetry, and they've put two Number 1 albums on the Official Independent Chart. It's a different kind of indie from the one Republica emerged from, so it should make for a varied bill.

Tickets are £33.00, and the gig is at The Brook, 466 Portswood Road, Southampton, SO17 3SD, on Saturday 17 October.