EXPLORING BIRDSONG
VENUE ST PANCRAS OLD CHURCH, LONDON
DATE 06/11/2025
You couldn’t pick a prettier place for a comeback. Almost 18 months after their last show, Liverpool prog-pop youngsters Exploring Birdsong are returning to one of England’s oldest churches. So anticipated was the occasion that, back in July, when this particular event was announced, it sold out instantly, forcing a second date to be added.
The eagerness is tangible as Prog walks into the venue, with the pews already full half-an-hour before stage time. Vocalist/keyboardist Lynsey Ward and bassist/co-keyboardist Jonny Knight are met with ecstatic applause as they walk onstage, though the crowd is silenced as they start the night with Cartography. The first as-yet-unreleased song of many tonight, it’s an atmospheric opener that highlights Ward’s quasi-operatic voice, her croons bouncing off of the icon-covered walls. Drummer Matt Harrison emerges for The Collapse and quickly proves to be just as invested as the audience. While pounding out some quintessentially prog rock rhythms, he mouths along and headbangs as much as anybody else in the building.