In a summer that’s seen the band perform to packed out tents at Glastonbury and many places beyond, Sundara Karma are riding a surefire wave of success. The Reading locals opened the main stage at last year’s Reading & Leeds festivals. Today they find themselves significantly higher on the bill, performing before a crowd who echo their every motion. Following the release of debut album ‘Youth Is Only Ever Fun in Retrospect’ at the start of this year, it’s an excitement the group have grown to take in their stride.
There are smoke flares and sing-a-longs a plenty as the band take to the NME / BBC Radio 1 Stage. Frontman Oscar Pollock bounds and sways around the stage with a perfectly measured confidence, inciting the audience to be their most earnest – and no one resists. It’s not long before he’s diving off the barrier to join them, rolling his way over the crowd front while the rest of the band power the performance from on stage.
Blowing kisses to their baying audience, the group play into their chemistry with an unadulterated charm. Casting an effortless spell that crowds continue to clamor to fall under, Sundara Karma are magic in the making.