Cambridge Junction
Tuesday 14th April 2026
Review By Smudge Smith
Florence Black released their awesome third album ‘Pouring Rain’ on Friday, 10th April 2026, and according to bass player Jordan Evans, it was already at number 50 in the charts. I have no doubt that it will climb a whole lot higher after this tour. Not only is the album totally awesome, but the band are on fire.
Touring with Florence Black are fellow South Wales residents DeLour. Nope, never heard of them, but on speaking with their drummer (sorry, didn’t get his name), he explained that they were heavily influenced by Deftones, where they play extremely heavy shit with loads of melody. He also mentioned that the band looks like a heavy band literally, but people will be surprised. He wasn’t wrong. They are five of the largest, hairiest, tattoo-covered males I have ever seen, and yeah, they play heavy, and they’ve got voices like angels – weird!
They poured out massive-sounding melodic metal gems like ‘You Want’, ‘Guarded’ and ‘Long May You Reign’ before the massive groove of ‘Hold Fast’ and the crushing, sorrowful stoner/doom of their last number, ‘Soncrusher’. Honestly, I’m not sure about them, but boy did they do well, and the general consensus was that they crushed it. They were perfectly suited for the bigger stage, and they made plenty of new fans.
Now, I’ve seen Florence Black at various venues and festivals over the past few years. They have always impressed me, and I’m not surprised by their upward trajectory. Tonight, however, they definitely brought their ‘A’ game. They were simply outstanding. Being a trio, there’s no hiding place, and you have to have the talent to perform.
They came on with no airs or graces, no backing videos, or anything. Just three lads under some lights having fun on stage. They went straight into new numbers ‘Take My Word’ and ‘Coloured In’ before going back to ‘Bed Of Nails’ for ‘Start Again’. ‘Bird On A Chain’ (I have no idea where this song comes from) was rattled out before ‘The Deep End’, ‘On The Ropes’ and our old friend ‘Smoke’. It was a gentle start for ‘Stuck In The Corner’ before bass man Jordan Evans stamped on his gain pedal, and they went off on a huge groove before coming back down with the power/soul voice of guitarist Tristan Thomas. Behind was drummer Perry Davis cajoling the crowd.
Tristan then pulled some proper guitar hero shapes, drenched in sweat, before ‘Warning Sign’, which was greeted with a huge cheer. We got the huge ballad ‘Back To The End’ and then the title track from the new album ‘Pouring Rain’; it’s deep and moody with a whole lot of soul before ‘Down The Road’ and the runaway train that was ‘Rockin’ Ring’, which got another huge cheer. ‘Bed Of Nails’ got us to the sunny rock ‘n’ roll of ‘Look Up’, where I’ve never seen a drummer smile so much.
Perry looked like he was having the most fun. ‘Zulu’ got darker and heavier before ‘Breadfan’ was aired. There are not too many bands that can make a cover their own, but Florence Black has done that where it’s now expected of them. Off they went for a short while before returning for the mighty ‘Sun And Moon’, where they turned it into a sing-a-long-a-Cambridge.
What a great night, a fabulous venue, welcoming and helpful staff and my thanks to Jordan from the band for sorting out my pass. I’m now really excited to see Florence Black headline Call of the Wild festival in May. Trust me, you won’t want to miss these guys. Awesome.
9/10
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