Thursday 9th October 2025
Blog Page 845

Working at the frontiers of knowledge – and the edge of reason

Cherwell
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Working at the frontiers of knowledge – and the edge of reason

Last week, researchers and humanitarians around the world held their breath as the Nobel committee recognised the most significant advances of culture and science – earlier this month, almost 6000 kilometers away at Harvard University, a slightly different (and arguably less prestigious) ceremony honored the most improbable.

Since 1991, the Ig Nobel Prize (a pun on the word ignoble) has sought to recognize real research that “first makes you laugh, then makes you think”, with previous winners pondering into the forces required to drag sheep, and the probability of a cow lying down.

The 26th Ig Nobel Prize brought the same level of inquisition and quirky inspiration that only the Ig Nobels do. For 2017 Ig Nobel Physics laureate and post-doctorate at the Paris Diderot University, Marc-Antoine Fardin, it was noticing the shared ability of fluids and cats to take the shape of their containers that lead him to attempt to calculate the Deborah number of a cat (a ratio expressing the viscosity and elasticity of a material) – concluding that its state was dependent on its ability to relax, with that depending on a myriad of reasons requiring further questioning.

From the UK, GP James Heathcote took to answer the observations of many GPs – why do older people have bigger ears? Approaching 206 patients, a Heathcote and a team of four GPs established a correlation indicating that our ears grow by an average of 0.22mm per year, their success garnering Heathcote the 2017 Ig Nobel in Anatomy.

Oxford hasn’t been short of Ig laureates in the past either. Somerville’s Dr. Helen Ashdown, who shared the 2015 Diagnostic Medicine Ig Nobel Prize for determining that acute appendicitis can be accurately diagnosed by the amount of pain evident when the patient is driven over speed bumps. Noticing in her time as a junior doctor that colleagues would often ask potential appendicitis patients about any potential pain whilst driving over speed bumps on the way to the hospital, Ashdown and fellow researchers found a 97% sensitivity rate between appendicitis and pain felt during driving over a speed bump.

In a press release on regarding the speed bump test, Dr. Ashdown claimed that for diagnosing appendicitis, “in terms of sensitivity of the test actually performed better than some of the tests that doctors very commonly use.”

Joining Dr. Ashdown in Oxford’s Ig Nobel laureates list is fellow of Somerville Professor Charles Spence, winning the infamous prize in 2018 for electronically modifying the sound of a potato chip to make the person chewing the chip believe it to be crisper and fresher than it really is.

Professor Spence’s experiment involved 20 volunteers taking a single bite of Pringle, whilst wearing headphones that would modulate the crunch of the initial bite. His results indicated that “potato chips were judged to be fresher and crisper when the overall sound level was increased and/or when the high frequency components of the biting sound was amplified.”

Though it’s easy to dismiss the Ig Nobel as simply a gimmick, it’s often demonstrations of curiosity and ingenuity that brings out the best in science. Recall the case of Andre Geim – currently the only winner of both a Nobel and Ig Nobel prize.

First gaining attention from winning the Ig Nobel prize for levitating frogs in extremely strong magnetic fields, Geim went on to win his Nobel prize through his continually innovative methods of experimentation, eventually isolating Graphene, a single-layered carbon structure with incredible conductive and structural capabilities, through repeatedly peeling off layers of graphite using gecko tape.

The Ig Nobel is science at its most curious, and that in itself deserves recognition. So as we head towards a week of marvelling at the advances human knowledge by Nobel laureates, spare a thought for the Ig Nobel laureates continuing the curious nature that makes science so appealing.

Cliché of the week: “Nadal is past it”

Jorge Lopez Llorente
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Cliché of the week: “Nadal is past it”

“Rafa Nadal is done for”. “This injury will ruin him forever”. “Nadal’s getting old”. Lately, we have heard reporters’ and fans’ prophecies dooming Nadal to retirement or an inevitable dip in his tennis. After all, sometimes Nadal does seem closer to A&E than Centre Court.

No matter how often critics dig his grave, the Spaniard has nine lives or more. After every injury and string of defeats, Nadal keeps biting trophies, not the dust, dominating the clay circuit and the majors.

It’s no surprise though. Nadal has dealt with constant injuries since the beginning of his career. Despite his dodgy knees, Nadal’s work ethic is unbreakable – you feel that determination in his trademark baseline rallies, saving almost any ball, however tough it looks, often with unique passing or banana shots. If he is a “purely physical player” (another cliché), how come his tennis remains jaw-dropping even when he is half-injured?

He gets injured, his level drops, his comeback is stronger – Rafa’s story repeats itself. In 2012, Nadal disappeared for months due to knee injuries. By 2013, he returned for a brilliant season defeating Novak Djokovic (then number one-ranked) among others to win two Grand Slams.

In 2014, Nadal was shaken by back pain, then wrist pain, then appendicitis, but he won Roland Garros anyway. After a dire 2015-16, not only having to weather physical problems but also serious mental issues, including dizziness and self-confessed anxiety, he tumbled down to ninth in the ranking.

You thought it was the end, right? Well, now he is firmly number one and won a tenth Roland Garros plus another US Open. In Beijing, the Spaniard needed another tense comeback against Lucas Pouille and lost some sets, yet he fought back to win the China Open in superb style.

In short, Djokovic and Andy Murray are undoubtedly great players, but look who are still fighting for Grand Slam records: Roger Federer and Nadal’s peaks are past, but they are still out there on the court playing against players sometimes a decade or more their junior.

The longevity, which these two have brought to their glittering careers and the many times that they’ve seemingly resurrected their careers after injuries or setbacks proves that they really do deserve the title of living legends. They prove the show must go on, because they are true champions. Let’s hope they continue to grace the courts of Grand Slams for many years to come.

Step aside, ‘Tory Lite’: it’s time for ‘Diet Labour’

Adam John Ellison
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Step aside, ‘Tory Lite’: it’s time for ‘Diet Labour’

Last Wednesday was the day the Conservative Party surrendered. Lost and shattered, scared and full of dread – they made it clear how desperate they were, how devoid of ideas they had become and how close to the edge they feel.

Theresa May’s speech was an utter disaster, front to back – from the prankster handing her a copy of Boris’ P45, to the faulty sign falling to pieces, to the now infamous coughing fits, the conference came to encapsulate the incompetence and lack of organisation that grips the Conservative government.

May has seen the writing on the wall, whether or not the rest of her party have – the times, they are a-changin’. Labour and their ideas are on the rise and somehow, in just two years, we have gone from Labour being “Tory Lite” to the Tories being “Diet Labour”. Labour now just needs to watch from the opposition benches as the Tories implement their old ideas and wait for their own chance to bring about the new ones.

If you took the transcript of May’s speech, crossed out the names and showed it to a visitor from 2015 they’d immediately deem it one of Ed Miliband’s greatest hits. From the “British Dream” (Miliband’s idea of each generation passing on a richer Britain to the next), to the cap on energy prices that the Tories branded ‘socialist’, to the large-scale investment in social housing, the priorities, policies and language all have much more in common with Miliband’s ideas than those of Cameron or Thatcher.

In case there were any doubts, Miliband was no Blairite: labelled “Red Ed” and seen as a rejection of the hyper-centrist legacy of his forebears, his ascent to the leadership was a shock success for the Labour soft left. This isn’t the Tories shifting some policies to the middle: they’re shifting them wholeheartedly to the centre-left.

But Ed Miliband isn’t the only high-ranking politician May’s been copying. President Josiah Bartlet, Martin Sheen’s lovable character in The West Wing, also had his ideas repeated word for word. When May talked about “reaching deep within ourselves to find that our capacity to rise to the challenge may well be limitless”, she was stealing from a fictional President who went off the air a decade ago, and indeed one from the left-leaning Democratic party. If grabbing ideas from your opposition wasn’t the very definition of desperation, I think that might be.

With all the drama, parody and mockery however, many are missing out on the actual ideas May put forward. To put it bluntly, they are far too little, and much too late. Her talk of the “largest social housing scheme since the 70s” turned out to be another laughably small promise. Whilst the £2 billion budget might sound meaty, it equates to barely 5,000 houses a year – not even an eighth of the average 41,000 that Margaret Thatcher’s government erected every single year.

Some ideas are merely flip-flops; the freeze on tuition fees at £9,250 is not only a blatant reversal of previous policy but still keeps tuition fees higher than they were at the start of her premiership. The energy cap is interesting, but just two years ago we were told it would be a disaster by the very people who now support it.

Ideas on Brexit were most notably absent from the speech as indeed they appear to be absent from the minds of government ministers. And that’s it. Those three stolen, watered-down, forgettable ideas, comprised the entire content of her key-note speech. If it hadn’t been a disaster, we’d all have forgotten by now. There is simply nothing on offer.

The disconnect between the Conservatives and British youth is staggering, the former desperately telling themselves that it is the promise of “freebies” that is winning over students to Jeremy Corbyn, rather than the promise of a new political reality.

The scraps she is content to throw are not nearly enough to reverse the growing political divide between young and old and her attacks on Corbyn were like white noise, repeated slogans from a disastrous election.

She has nothing. The rest of May’s time in office will be a struggle to cling on, a fight for the right to be the Tories’ fall guy, and the honour of taking the blame for Brexit. The plot to remove her is now in the open and whether her premiership lasts another two years or two days, we all know that this speech was the beginning of the end.

On reflection, it’s hard not to feel bad for Theresa May. For all her bumbling incompetence, she hardly chose to be pranked mid-speech, she wasn’t responsible for affixing the letters behind her and I’m almost certain she didn’t write the speech herself.

That doesn’t change the fact, however, that her ideas, her policies, and her tone were all desperate, failed attempts at appeasement. Selling out to left-of-centre ideas is all the Tories have left. The initiative is lost: they are being routed from the field and, in front of her party and the entire nation, Theresa May has surrendered to Labour.

Five minutes with Philippa Lawford, director of Tightrope Productions

Cherwell Stage
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Five minutes with Philippa Lawford, director of Tightrope Productions

How did you get involved in drama at Oxford?
I directed Regents Park College’s Cuppers play – we did an extract from ‘Mercury Fur’. It was such a fun experience and I became friends with Kiya Evans and Alex Jacobs, who I now work with on everything (Kiya produces and Alex does our tech).

What’s your happiest memory of drama at Oxford?
I had an amazing time at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe this summer with ‘Sex Education’, which I directed. It was very exciting putting on a play at the Fringe and spending so much time with the cast in a new place.

Have you ever had a complete nightmare with a production going wrong?
In both of the plays I directed this summer, ‘Sex Education’ and ‘Baby Blues’, we had an actress drop out fairly last minute, so we had to scramble to cast someone else. It took a lot of emailing and messaging people but we found two wonderful replacements – one was cast the day before rehearsals began.

What’s your favourite play, and how would you like to stage it in Oxford?
At the moment I’m thinking a lot about Shakespeare’s ‘Pericles’ as I’m hoping to stage it next term. I don’t want to give too much away but I want to break away from a completely naturalistic style and tell the story in as vivid and engaging a way as possible. I love Shakespeare’s language and I just hope I can rise to the challenge of staging it.

Who’s your inspiration?
Peter Brook is an absolute hero of mine – The Empty Space introduced me to the extraordinary potential of the director – and his whole career is so inspiring.

Do you have any advice for freshers who might like to get involved in the Oxford drama scene?
I would encourage freshers not to let themselves be intimidated by the Oxford drama scene, as it can seem quite scary, because everyone seems to know everyone else. I think the bid system is great as it means that everyone has fair and equal opportunities to get a play on, and there’s no need to worry about knowing anyone or being somehow established in Oxford.

Are you working on any exciting projects at the moment that you can tell us about?
Yes! I’m working on ‘The Lieutenant of Inishmore’ at the moment, which is going to be on at the Keble O’Reilly in 5th week. It’s dark and hilarious. I can’t wait to start rehearsals with our incredible cast and crew. I went to Inishmore a few weeks ago and since then I have been itching to get to work on creating the world of the play.

Life Divided: Matriculation

Rachel Craig-McFeely and Anna Elliott
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Life Divided: Matriculation

For Matriculation

By Rachel Craig-McFeely

Freshers: you’ve gone to the Rad Cam, narrowly avoided being hit by a bus on St Aldates, and sorrowfully removed your freshers wristband. You’re a fully-fledged Oxford student, right? But, to adapt Mean Girls, “you don’t even go here”. It sounds harsh, but it’s true, and that’s exactly what will make matriculation a memorable day in your Oxford life. Often dull, frequently drunken, you’ll eventually look back on those strange hours with a certain fondness. Ultimately, matriculation’s just one of those Oxford things.

It’s a ceremony in which you are officially enrolled into Oxford, and simultaneously spend the day so inebriated you forget you’re wearing sub fusc. Matriculation is much more than a traditional ceremony: it’s an introduction to the unique cocktail of ritual, gown-wearing, and, occasionally, alcohol, that is central to Oxford life.

Sub fusc may be a bizarre mixture of school uniform and capes, but as a second year whose gown brings horrific Prelims flashbacks, do enjoy the novelty while it lasts. Photos will act as essential fodder for your Facebook profile/Instagram feed, and are something to look back at nostalgically when you’re no longer “fresh”.

Moreover, matriculation is effectively a free-pass for daytime drinking. With the ceremony often ending by 10am, what else is there to do but grab a pint before returning to college for a champagne reception, followed by free food with wine provided? After that you need only keep up your blood-alcohol level for matriculash, where you can recreate the joys of Freshers’ Week, but now with friends!

Matriculation is an opportunity to take a day off and celebrate getting into Oxford. So enjoy it, because tomorrow you’ll be back in the library, probably with a headache, working on the next essay.

Against Matriculation

By Anna Elliott

Matriculation was always destined to be a disaster. The sub fusc you purchased last week seemed exciting and Harry Potteresque at the time, but now it’s become clear that it’s actually impractical and confusing. After only a few minutes, you’ll realise that almost nobody looks good in a billowing gown and, unable to use your mortarboard for rain protection, your hair will be stuck to your forehead and your white shirt alarmingly transparent.

Not only will your drenched attire be forever immortalised in tourists’ photos, but, for the next few weeks, these terrible memories will be plastered all over Facebook. You may have dreamed that such photos would portray you and your cool new friends posing on the Bodleian steps in the sun. Not so. Instead, the sky will be overcast, and the sheer volume of students jostling for the perfect shot means that you’ll be forced to take pictures on the pavement outside Sainsbury’s. And let’s face it: you’ve known these people for two weeks. Many matriculation pictures end up capturing pretty random groups of people, some of whom may detest each other by the time Prelims roll around.

Although the matriculation ceremony itself takes only about ten minutes, the whole day is filled with pressure to commemorate this unique event. The afternoon will generally be spent doing one of two things: either you’ll be stuck in the library attempting to salvage first week work, or in the pub participating in matriculash. Either way, by the evening, you’ll be exhausted – but the pressure to go out means you, and everyone else in the entire college, will troop out to Bridge in the cold and the dark just to stand in a hot, cramped room, packed with freshers. In the end, the only thing that makes matriculation bearable is knowing that next year you’ll be able to laugh at the idealistic freshers who don’t know what the day has in store for them.

Oxford to become first city to ban all polluting vehicles

Mia Millman
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Oxford to become first city to ban all polluting vehicles

Polluting cars are set to be banned from Oxford city centre in a newly-announced scheme starting in 2020. The City Council’s plans would make Oxford the world’s first zero emissions zone.

The initiative aims to exclude all petrol and diesel cars, including taxis and buses, from six city centre streets. The area would include Queen Street, New Inn Hall Street, Ship Street, St Michael’s Street, and Market Street. Students from colleges inside the new zero emission zone, including St Peter’s and Jesus, would not be able to drive to their colleges when moving in at the beginning of term.

This area is projected to expand in several stages over the following 15 years, and would eventually encompass the majority of the city centre.

By 2030, at the proposed scheme’s end point, the zero emissions zone would stretch from the train station to Magdalen College, and north to the Museum of Natural History. 23 Oxford colleges would eventually be affected by the ban including Christ Church, New, and St John’s.

Buses using the route will be replaced by non-fossil fuel alternatives. In total, the proposals are expected to cost £14 million.

The plans seek to cut levels of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) in the city centre. The zero emissions zone is anticipated to reduce pollution by up to 74 per cent on certain streets and improve the air quality of the city.

Several streets, including George Street and High Street, are currently above the European Union’s legal pollution limit of 40 micrograms of nitrogen dioxide per cubic metre.

Oxford City Council environment chief, John Tanner, told Cherwell: “In some city centre streets, the pollution is still above the safe level so we really had to take action because this is a health issue which is affecting hundreds of people.

“Young children, people who are unwell, and elderly people are already affected. Some die earlier because of this pollution so it’s clearly something we’ve got to act on.

“Also, it fits in with our determination to join in the campaign to tackle climate change because we’re encouraging people to switch from using fossil fuels to using green electricity.”

When asked about the impact on students moving in to their university accommodation, Tanner said: “Either parents will have to use electric vehicles or they’re going to have to walk a bit further, and carry things a bit further.

“This is something where everyone is going to play their part to clean up the air in the centre of the city and that means all of us using petrol vehicles less and using electrical vehicles more.”

The plans have caused some upset among students at affected colleges. Second-year St Peter’s student Eimer McAuley said: “The new ban on non-electric cars seems both impractical and inconvenient for students at Peter’s.

“I don’t really see how it’s possible for people to get their stuff from outside the city centre on foot.”

St Peter’s JCR President El Blackwood told Cherwell: “It is frustrating that little provision has been made for students moving in and out of their colleges”.

Those who fail to follow the regulations are likely to face penalty charges, similar to the £60 bus gate fines currently levied on motorists caught parking in public transport only zones.

Several students have voiced their opinions on the new initiative. Jesus College JCR’s Environment officer, Imogen Dobie, told Cherwell: “This move by the council is a mixed bag for students.

“While the practicalities are obviously annoying, it would be extremely exciting to be the first zero emissions zone, especially after the recent warning that Oxford was one of eleven British cities set to breach the safe limits set for PM10s.”

In May 2016, Oxford was listed by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as one of eleven UK towns and cities failing to meet air quality standards.

On Monday, the council is set to launch a six-week consultation on the proposal. It promises to seek responses from all regular travellers through the city centre, including university students.

Tis A Pity She’s A Piglet review – “Energetic and farcical, if lacking discipline”

Ethan Croft
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Tis A Pity She’s A Piglet review – “Energetic and farcical, if lacking discipline”

Paul Foot walked out onto the stage of Oxford’s Old Fire Station somewhat like an alien landing from outer space. “Greetings!” he barked, dressed with a shiny shoulder-padded jacket, silver dress shoes, and a necklace of conkers.

This particular extra-terrestrial did not come in peace though, beginning his show, ‘Tis a pity she’s a piglet, with some confrontational lines on the nervous disposition of the audience.

Although it was a Saturday night, the room, according to Foot, had the atmosphere of a Tuesday evening. This was unorthodox ice-breaking from an unorthodox comic, and established the rather on-edge mood of the evening.

After some preliminary explorations in the ‘observational’ – school days, marriage, etc – Foot took us into his world, the realm of the ridiculous. Beginning with a discus- sion of ‘literal surrealism’, a genre which he claims to have invented, the comic began to rattle off a series of bizarre vignettes, which he described as “possible but unlikely.”

After imparting to us the story of a businessman who sat on a chocolate bar, Foot came up against the first and most determined heckler of the night, who remarked rather loudly: “I don’t get it.” Foot countered by repeating the joke once more – directly at the dissenter’s reddening face – adding a slightly meta elaboration about the soiled businessman’s disillusion with his career.

This elicited hearty laughs from most of the room, but I suspect the slain heckler was putting on a bit so that the kook would let him alone. Such moments, when Foot ad-libbed and engaged with his sceptical audience, were preferable to his more mechanical instances of farce. Foot was, after all, showing us his ‘routine’, and so the most outlandish moments were hard to believe. They were spoiled by a lingering sense of rehearsal.

One segment of the show centred on Foot asking members of the audience to abuse his best friend, a teddy bear. This was derailed slightly by two women who seemed to have adopted the notion that they were the comic’s sidekicks. ‘Fiona’, who was asked to punch the teddy bear in the face, launched into a bizarre spectacle in which she pretended to be deprived of hands.

Of course, we didn’t pay to see her. Foot had some trouble handling what he termed their ‘postmodern approach’ to audience participation, but managed to steer the show away from their obstruction in the end.

In this instance of ‘crowd work’, Foot demonstrated his skill as an experienced performer, if not his ability to write a disciplined show.

The title, ‘Tis a pity she’s a piglet, and the allusion to Ford, remains unexplained. The stronger parts of the performance involved Foot playing off his audience, and with this in mind it seems a saving grace that the gig was performed at the Old Fire Station on George Street.

This proved a far more intimate setting than the Playhouse, Oxford’s larger venue of choice for ‘TV’ comedians, where I speculate Foot’s style would have proved a little impractical.

The show concluded with an extended riff on the long since concluded Oscar Pistorius trial. This felt indicative of Foot’s abrupt leaps from one gag to the next throughout the performance, which were a mark of his boundless energy, but also his lack of self-discipline.

Paul Foot: ‘Tis A Pity She’s A Piglet is on tour until 2 December.

Christ Church bids au revoir to post-bop drunkenness

Libby Cherry
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Christ Church bids au revoir to post-bop drunkenness

Up to 100 croissants were handed out free to Christ Church College students at the end of their freshers bop last week, with the aim of reducing drunkenness.

The distribution of pastries was one of several measures undertaken by the college stewards in an attempt to mitigate intoxication, after one Christ Church student fell out of a window at a Trinity term bop.

Security was also tightened at the college’s gates during the first bop of term, and restrictions on guest students from outside Christ Church were increased.

A spokesperson from the college told Cherwell: “As far as the croissants were concerned, these proved very popular with our students at the summer ball, and we were delighted to offer them again at the end of the evening.”

Christ Church JCR Entz rep, Jason Pilsbury, told Cherwell he was “glad to hear that some people enjoyed it.”

Speaking about the initiative, he said: “It will have helped some people but not others. It probably helped more people in avoiding the treacherous journey to Hassan’s.”

Ella Thomas, a first year Christ Church student, told Cherwell: “It was buttery and delicious… someone fed it to me.”

A Christ Church student commented: “There was a lovely array of French patisserie that we enjoyed at our bop.

“It helped to soak up the Bollinger that I consumed in copious quantities. It was the best bit of a quality night”.

The introduction of croissants and additional security measures comes after a series of drunken incidents at a Christ Church bop in Trinity term. These were allegedly inspired by the playing of Robbie Williams’ hit song ‘Angels’.

‘Blade Runner 2049’ pleases fans of the cult classic

Matthew Nicholson
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‘Blade Runner 2049’ pleases fans of the cult classic

To say that the announcement of a sequel to the original 1982 Blade Runner was met with scepticism is an understatement. Fans of science fiction have often been left disappointed as sequels, prequels, or reboots of their favourite film fail to meet the high standards set in the first instance (see Star Wars).

The challenge with Blade Runner is even more precarious; fans of the film feel that nothing has really ever surpassed it. The original is not at all dated, as all its nuance and symbolism is equally as iconic and relevant today as it was 35 years ago. Nevertheless, 2049 works, both in its own right and 35 years after the release of Ridley Scott’s cult classic.

The opening sequence explains that a few of the Nexus 6 androids are still in hiding and Blade Runners are still employed by the police to ‘retire’ them. The film’s protagonist, Ryan Gosling’s Officer K, is a replicant blade runner, derided and estranged by his human colleagues. After all, he isn’t really human.

All the cast perform magnificiently. Harrison Ford is as witty and cool as ever and Ryan Gosling an excellent choice. The script is in keeping with Phillip K. Dick’s dystopia, likely because Hampton Fancher, who wrote the first draft of the script of the original film, returns to the fold for 2049. Executive producer and science fiction king-pin Ridley Scott lends his idiosyncratic thoughtful and uncompromising vision to film as expected.

Aesthetically too, the film is beautiful. Director Denis Villeneuve is clearly a huge fan of the original, using absolutely huge sets to shoot the film. Supposedly, Ryan Gosling had to visit the sets hours before he filmed just so he wouldn’t be overwhelmed on camera. The plot did not feel stale or unnecessary, and has added even more intrigue and life to the original.

Some reviewers are even stating that this film tops the original, although this may be rather unusual, and perhaps a step too far. However, it appears unlikely that 2049 will not become a modernclassic. I came away from the film having not only reignited my love for the original, but feeling satisfied that it now has this sequel to continue the story.

It would also be surprising if this is the end of the Blade Runner franchise, with Ridley Scott announcing the possibility of three further sequels. If the same amount of consideration and love is put into these films as was obviously put into this one, then this can only be a good thing.

A unique and uncomfortable experience

Joe Baverstock-Poppy
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A unique and uncomfortable experience

Lil Peep is an unusual artist, seemingly a relic from an era where rap-rock crossovers and angsty emo was all the rage. Peep doesn’t completely fit this description – his trap influences are decidedly modern – however his lyrics about socially awkward experiences at high school are obviously backwards looking. It’s fair to say that I am not the biggest fan of Lil Peep but with my diehard friends desperate to go, I decided to join them.

Looking like they’d stumbled out a wormhole from the mid-00s, the energy from the crowd contributed a lot to the experience. Every song was met with cheers, sung along to, and ended with chants for another hit tune.

As someone not too acquainted with Peep’s songs and additionally suffering a personal memory block that can’t recall words within a musical context, I felt like the only person in the crowd not singing along to every word. Despite this, the crowd was the most positive element of the gig.

Of the performance, I’d say that the songs individually were not bad, each sounding like a emotional hit in their own right. However, in a larger context, these songs all meshed into one, too similar in tone and sound to stick out from each other. Peep himself was another issue – unsurprisingly sloshed, he downed a whole bottle of Hennessey during the show. Each song was preceded by a long interlude of Peep chatting to the crowd.

At times this was endearing, with Peep offering consoling words about making “some noise for yourself as individuals” and engaging in banter with the crowd about song choices. However, other moments were awkwardly silent. Peep just stared at his laptop screen for what felt like minutes figuring out what to do next.

It was an amateur gig. I enjoyed it, but not without a sense of guilt for having done so.

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