At Bush Hall, this was less a talent contest and more a collision of wildly different musical identities fighting for a place on the Isle of Wight Festival bill. Among the night’s standouts, though, García arrived determined to drag one of Rock’s oldest spirits back into the present tense.

The Soho-based four-piece already looked the part before a note had been played. Bassist Stephen “Woodie” Wood strode onstage in flares that would have made 1969 blush, while the band locked into a groove that nodded unapologetically towards Cream, Jimi Hendrix and the Latin-psych swirl of Santana. In lesser hands, it could have felt like cosplay. García make it feel alive.

There’s a pleasing symmetry to their rise. Only a short while ago they were a hard-gigging power trio knocking out covers at Monday night sessions in the Camden Eye, tearing through 'Good Times Bad Times', 'L.A. Woman' and 'Get It On' with enough conviction to suggest they were aiming for something beyond the pub circuit. Somehow, that hunger has survived the transition into a bigger, sharper outfit.

The addition of keyboard player Ryota Saito has transformed the band’s sound completely. His Hammond and Rhodes textures gave the set genuine depth, widening the sonic landscape without dulling the raw edges. Tracks like 'Gimme Love', 'Big Trick', 'Fools Dance' and the early demo favourite 'Everything You Want' pulsed with throwback swagger while still sounding young enough to belong to a generation discovering Classic Rock through algorithm rabbit holes and battered vinyl alike.

Most impressive was the chemistry. Wood and drummer Filipp “Fil” Krisan played with the kind of loose-tight groove that all the best retro-Rock bands chase but rarely achieve. Krisan, in particular, bore more than a passing resemblance to a young Mitch Mitchell, right down to the whirlwind fills and animated drumming mannerisms that seemed to channel the spirit of the late-60s underground. Carlos García himself, meanwhile, understood the oldest rule in Rock frontmanship: if the crowd won’t come to you, go to them. Mid-set, he launched himself from the Bush Hall stage into the audience, guitar still hanging from his shoulder, turning a promising showcase into something genuinely volatile.

Elsewhere, Mother Beck brought a sizeable travelling support, while Alt-Pop act Lullabee and South-East London rapper Southy added stylistic variety to the bill. But García were the band who made you feel like you’d stumbled into a time warp where Psychedelic Blues-Rock still mattered, and somehow, against the odds, it absolutely did.

Review and picture: Ivan De Mello