Live Review: The Zangwills & Ten Hands High at Rough Trade Nottingham

Jake - The Zangwills

We’ve recently collaborated with Ten Hands High on our feature The Unseen Struggle: Bands’ Motivations vs. The Music Industry Grind, and we’re true fans, so when we found out they were playing Rough Trade Nottingham, it was an automatic diary entry. Tickets were secured immediately. They were supporting The Zangwills, a band I must admit I hadn’t listened to much apart from a couple of tracks while putting up the event on NottsRocks. What I heard piqued my interest, so I wanted to save the rest for the live show.

Saturday evening arrived, and after a couple of beers around the village, I headed to Rough Trade—a cosy and intimate venue that’s fast becoming the industry norm, with small spaces popping up everywhere to fit around 80–150 people. A modest number of gig-goers had already gathered when I arrived. I grabbed a beer, and before long, that familiar sound of guitar tuning filled the air, drawing us all in.

Ten Hands High

First up was Ten Hands High, fronted by Alexi. They opened with Butterflies at Night, a fantastic track that's racked up streams and a solid way to start the set. This was quickly followed by Happiness by Design, and I was grinning ear to ear. After listening to their music a lot this year, it was brilliant to finally see them live. Tight, polished, and definitely crowd-pleasing, the band went through their set with ease, engaging the audience and getting us to sing back lyrics—something we did with gusto.

Then came Adore U, a cover of Fred Again’s track that they’ve just released. The story goes that after playing it at a London gig, the response was so overwhelming, they had to record and release it. It’s currently making waves on the airwaves. A couple more tracks followed before we hit my personal favourite, Red Wine—the song that first put Ten Hands High on my radar. I discovered it while searching for a track to support our feature on Red Wine, and since then, I’ve become a huge fan. The band had the crowd moving, singing, and fully engaged. After closing with Kitchen Table, they were met with rapturous applause. Their first gig in Nottingham was a massive success.

A quick beer run, and I was back in the crowd for the main act.

There’s something oddly familiar about Jake, the enigmatic frontman of The Zangwills. I thought about it earlier in the day and even had a conversation with a fellow gigger later on. "I feel like I’m watching Julian from The Strokes," I said. "No, you mean Luke from The Kooks," came the reply. Someone behind us chipped in, “Nah, Tom Chaplin”... Ah, yes! we all agreed.

The band opened with Walking on a Wire, with Jake switching between mini synth/keys and guitar, swinging the mic around. At this point, the crowd erupted into voice, clearly indicating these guys are building a strong following. They roared into The Horrors of Sobriety, which kept the fan love flowing, but it was Spielberg Sweethearts, the band’s first release, that had the packed venue singing in unison. My grin was still firmly in place.

Their onstage presence was magnetic—Jake’s hypnotic showmanship filled the tight space effortlessly. The band was tight, polished, and Jake’s vocals were both powerful and emotive, complemented by driving guitar solos, synthy soundscapes, and anthemic melodies. They powered through their discography, including Backpatters & Shooters and Daydreamed Away, with the crowd’s energy matching every move. Jake seamlessly moved between instruments, and a guitar riff led them into Collision, their latest release, which had the crowd baying their approval. The heat in the room—both literally and figuratively—was palpable.

I had run out of beer, but I couldn’t move to the bar for fear of missing out on the electric performance of a band now firmly rooted in my musical consciousness. They ended with New Heights, a track that’s amassed over a million streams on Spotify. The immersive sounds swept through the room, and when it finished, the place exploded into whoops and applause. Jake thanked the crowd and said, "Now we’re finally off to our own beds, thanks Nottingham." I smiled and thought, “Whose beds have they been sleeping in?”

The band plays gigs in the new year, and their sound is so infectious that they’ll definitely be featuring on our NottsRocks Music Radar.