"It's time for us to bury our love". This was the phrase that adorned merch released when the band broke up four years ago.
Before Casey hit the stage at their sold-out show at the garage a man next to me in the crowd turned around and asked me where was best to go out after the show. This guy had travelled down all the way from north Scotland with a group of friends, just for this show. North Scotland all the way to London.
Clearly, the fans did not bury their love.
Nearly half of the people in the room donned Casey merch (which is quite the feat for a band that has been off the grid for that amount of time). The new songs had been memorised enough to drown out in the month that they'd been out. The deep cuts were sung back word for word. The smiles and the tears projected at the band were entirely genuine.
The band kicked off the show with "Good Grief" and "Atone" back to back. Their return singles. This section felt distinct from the rest of the set in that after these tracks is when they chose to have their first break for chat and somewhat reintroduce themselves. With a show of hands showing the majority of people hadn't actually seen the band before.
Then came the core set with classics and deep cuts alike. It was incredibly emotive with lead singer Tom Weaver singing with his signature flower bouquet attached to the mic stand. Highlights were the fan favourite (and personal favourite) "Darling" which saw the most tears shed of any of Casey's extremely emotive tracks. Other high points include the massive crowd singing during "Fluorescents" and the band's tightness during "Bruise". The band closed the set in style with the one-two punch of "Hell" and "Little Bird" with the room erupting in a pit.
A grand return to the stage for a band with one of the most devoted fan bases I've ever seen. I look forward to seeing their next steps.