Friendship at The Dome

Friendship

Garden Centre

The Dome, 11 May 2026

What a thrill to see Friendship play their biggest ever show (aside from festivals, so they said), at the Dome last night, where they played lots from their excellent recent album, Caveman Wakes Up, some older tunes and a brand new one and even a cover of the Tom Waits classic Ol' 55. This was my first time seeing them but what a fantastic show it was!

This was the first time I've ever been to the Dome, which is situated just opposite Tufnell Park tube station, and is connected to a proper old man's pub the Boston Arms. It's probably a little bigger than The Garage, although the stage is higher, but I liked it a lot.

I think there was a curfew in place here too but things started promptly with the support act, Garden Centre, who, although I had never heard of them, spied there was a member of Welsh band The Tubs, Owen Williams, setting up his guitar. I once saw Williams play in the now defunct Joanna Gruesome but I've never seen The Tubs, who apparently are part of a loose collection of groups called Gob Nation, in which the various members play in different bands including the aforementioned Garden Centre from Brighton. Williams though was very much in the background here though, although he seemed very entertained by quirky singer Max Levy, only really piping up to mention the tiny setlist that Levy had written. "I like to write setlists in really small handwriting," Levy told the crowd, "as I like to challenge my band."

Levy himself has curly brown hair and glasses and looked like a chubbier version of Daniel Radcliffe. With his quirky, high pitched vocals and short, lo-fi songs, this felt a bit like a novelty band to me but what do I know. At the end, when setting up his equipment I heard Friendship's frontman, Dan Wriggins, tell the bassist from Garden Centre that they may have upstaged them, but that certainly didn't happen, I'm happy to say.

The band, which along with Levy and Williams, featured a drummer, bassist and a keyboardist who reminded me of Honey G, played songs from their album A Moon For Digging but also a bunch of new tunes which they said was from a forthcoming record. Levy did say the title but I've already forgotten.

The songs had a childishness to them and sounded a bit made-up on the spot. It wasn't for me but many seemed entertained by their crazy energy so what do I know. It was amusing but I was glad when their set ended.

Thankfully though Friendship saved the day.

More soon...