Live Review: Ripcord Records Tour 2025 – Featuring Million Moons, Civil /// Service, & Solars at New Cross Inn, London (20/02/25)

Isn’t it a joy, when a line-up features not just one band you love, not even two bands you love, but three. This is what I got to experience at the New Cross Inn as Ripcord Records put on the post rock night of my dreams. A night featuring the incredible talents of Solars, Civil /// Service, and Million Moons.

Three bands you’ve probably read about on the GBHBL website before, after all, they all released incredible albums last year (2024).

Solars – A Fading Future
Civil /// Service – /// Light
Million Moons – I May be Some Time

It’s heartening to see the New Cross Inn fill up, bit by bit, as the Birmingham-based band, Solars take to the stage and unleash a thrilling barrage of instrumental post that is experimental, but not to an overtly eccentric degree. It’s music to ponder on, music to make you feel, but music with foot-tapping, finger-snapping, and head-banging beats and rhythms.

‘A Fading Future’ is the showcase, rightfully so, and just like the album delivered, Solars’ live performance brings a punchy and varied array of post rock delights to the venue. Thirty minutes isn’t long enough in the company of this band, and they looked like they had a blast too.

Civil /// Service are a little delayed getting on stage, so their set flies by in even shorter fashion, but just like Solars (and the following Million Moons) they deliver an unforgettable auditory treat, with added visuals to give their story-telling more impact. Which proves to be an inspired touch as their style of post comes from a wide and deep landscape.

On their debut album, /// Light, they skirted the line between light and darkness perfectly, and live, they do so with even greater aplomb. Here, they bring a more tangible edge, showcase the vitality that exists in the band, and have fun doing so. Which is unexpected when you consider the emotional heft that their music has. They could have headlined this show.

Million Moons end the night though and do so in spectacular fashion. Playing their latest album, I May Be Some Time, in full (and a little more). It is an album that I adore, ranking as my 4th favourite album of 2024, and an album that is still on regular listening rotation now.

Inspired by the final words of Antarctic explorer, Captain Lawrence Oates and his selfless act of sacrifice, ‘I May Be Some Time’ is a concept album and across seven glorious, emotional, and epic pieces of music, Million Moons capture feelings of hope, despair, bravery, and so much more. These are words I wrote in the album review last year, and words that still ring true now, perhaps even more so having experienced the live emotion of this music. It is special, and each track of the album brings unbelievable power and poise.

Voice of the Wild, Intruders in A Strange World, I May Be Some Time, Endure, Overcome; take your pick, everything this album has to offer is incredible, and live, all the nuances are there. It’s harder to connect in the live environment than on record, but credit to Million Moons, they have the sizable crowd in the palm of their hands. Which is why one brave soul agrees to add more ‘oomph’ to the drum section of Aurora (he did well), a highlight of the entire night.

Had it just been I May Be Some Time in full, I’d have been happy, but tonight, we get the bonus of hearing a couple of tracks from their previous album, the wonderful ‘Gap in the Clouds’. Nobody can complain about being short-changed, that’s for sure, but who would? The mood inside the New Cross Inn is one of joy, even if there’s a tear rolling out of an eye or two.