BOMBAY BICYCLE CLUB - LIVE REVIEW

Thursday 14^th March, Brixton Academy, 7:00pm

SET LIST:

Overdone

It’s Alright Now

Shuffle

Come To

Bad Timing

Lamplight

Evening/Morning

How Much Sleep Can you Swallow?

Home By Now

Feel

Lights Out, Words Gone

Eyes Off You

Whenever, Wherever

Luna

Always Like This

So Long, See You Tomorrow

ENCORE:

What If

Carry Me

I’d only ever been to Brixton Academy once, when I was about 15, to see Happy Mondays with my family. Since then, I’ve been to a lot more gigs/festivals, but never in Brixton. What I remembered was the large slope which created a great view, wherever you stood, and some much needed space to move around in.

After exploring the many food outlets in Brixton Village with my sister, we arrived at the venue just before 9pm. Perfect timing, as Bombay Bicycle Club didn’t come on until 9:15pm.

In interviews, the band seem very coy and shy. I saw them on Sunday Brunch, and, despite, their ever-growing successes, Jack Steadman and Jamie MacColl sat cool and calmly. It’s incredibly endearing, when the artists don’t know how good they are. Nothing worse than an “I think you are really fit, you’re fit, but my Gosh, don’t you know it,” moment, if you catch my drift.

‘Overdone’ kick-started the next 1 hour and 15minutes of Bombay Bicycle Club craziness. I was distracted, at first, by a group of underage fans, whose friend was a little over excited and attempted to create a mosh pit, (by this I mean jumping and falling into the row in front of him, who were less than impressed). They soon dispersed and my focus was reinstated.

The first song of a set is always a little blurry for me, as the wait for the band to come on stage, which feels like a lifetime, is suddenly over and the next thing you know, you’re surrounded by blinding lights and a loud echo of your favourite vocals. A lot of power and punch went into the first song of the evening, as Steadman swung himself round his guitar, without a single chord faltering. It was amazing to see Bombay Bicycle Club with such stage presence and really letting themselves go. Such a transformation from past TV appearances. They appeared confident, crazy, yet calm.  

They played So Long, See You Tomorrow in its entirety, but of course not forgetting tracks which made us fall in love with them in the first place.   

There wasn’t a great deal of band and crowd interaction. Steadman and co. were on to perform, and that they did. There was the occasional shout out, but, with the amount of gusto they were putting into their music, you could see and hear that it was all about the music. If they couldn’t find the words, their lyrics would.  

My sister and I were discussing what songs would be played on the encore, as most of their “hits” had already been played. My sister then said, “well, I’m sure they’ll pluck something out, which we’ve forgotten,’ and she wasn’t wrong. ‘What If’ came blasting out, and I was kicking myself for even disregarding it as an Encore track. Bombay Bicycle Club showcased their diversity last night. The accompaniment of brass, the bombay-infused sounds in 'Feel,' heavier guitar strums in 'Evening/Morning,' then drifting to chilled Coachella-esque chords in 'How Much Sleep Can You Swallow.' It's quite remarkable to see a band's musical growth, right before your very eyes.

I would see them again, and again, and again.  

Favourite Live Tracks: Evening/Morning, How Much Sleep Can You Swallow, Home By Now.