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.

   

SONG OF THE DAY

Bombay Bicycle Club - Luna

You may have noticed, that I already uploaded a Bombay Bicycle Club track on the blog recently, but I just couldn't help myself, because a) their new album, So Long, See You Tomorrow is probably their best yet, and b)I'm seeing them live TONIGHT!

I'm planning on writing a live review for this gig. I know I may have said that for HAIM last week, but the dancing got a little out of hand, and normally I take notes, but I just couldnt stop my feet!
This time though, I'll have to be a lot more restrained, as I'll be seeing them on a "school night." 
My predictions for setlist:
Opening song: Overdone
Encore: Always Like This, Shuffle

SONG OF THE DAY

HAIM - Forever

I went to see HAIM live at Nottingham's Rock City on Tuesday and felt like I'd been transported to another decade, (late 70's/early 80's I'd say).

The Haim sisters did not leave their talent in L.A. Ohh noo, they took every ounce of it with them to the UK, AND some.

When you see a band like HAIM, whose popularity is growing by the download, you have to resign yourself to the fact that this may be the only time you'll see them. Unless you're at a festival or something, chances are, they'll be playing the arenas next year. 

I was planning on writing a live review for the gig, but was having far too much fun and lost myself in what seemed like, a 70s disco.

Seeing a band's first album live is the most exciting time; for the band and its fans. The fans win 'cos your favourite track is definitely going to be played at some point, and the band are still pinching themselves at the audience singing every one of their lyrics back to them.

Este Haim told us to "shake our fuckin' asses" for 'Forever,' and that, we did. It was just like one big party. Nobody cared. Everyone just wanted to dance. 

HAIM's first song of the encore was Beyonce's 'XO,' and instantly became my stand-out track of the night.

I'm suffering with some post-gig blues at the moment.

Life was so much better jumping around and screaming to 'Don't Save Me' with my pals and not having to worry about anything.

Not. A. Thing.

That's what I love most about live music. It's all in the moment.

LIVE REVIEW: Lucy Rose @ Brighton’s Coalition – 12/11/12

Set List:

First

Red Face

Lines

All I’ve Got

Shiver

Night Bus

Place Scar

*NEW SONG*

Middle Of The Bed

Watch Over

Bikes

ENCORE:

Don’t You Worry

Be Alright

Now, I’d never been to Brighton’s Coalition before. I didn’t even know it was a music venue. I’d always assumed it was mainly a club on Brighton’s seafront so didn’t know what to expect, apart from the generic sticky floor and bar. My assumptions were correct. I couldn’t decide whether it was the fact I could barely see the stage or whether my lack of change for the cloakroom meant I was stood in amongst the crowd with my winter warmers on, sweltering… but something just wasn’t right. I always believe a venue can make or break a gig and to be honest I had my doubts. I think  it was ‘cos I had been waiting so long for a chance to see Lucy Rose, I had already envisioned this really small, intimate gig but I forgot how much her fan base had expanded over the last year… Fighting for a good view in a gig is never my strong point especially if a very tall, stocky man is standing square in front of you, armed with a pint along with his three pals. Luckily, I managed to maintain a spot where I could just about see Lucy Rose’s full set.  It was a gap between two people’s heads. Perfect. That’ll do. ..

My concerns with the venue instantly vanished when Lucy Rose came on stage and performed her enchanting ‘First.’ I realised there was even more to her voice that recordings on her CD and various videos online weren’t showing us. There was something classical   about it. Now, I’m not talking about opera or anything Mozart, I mean that original, husky, dusty, soft base to her vocals that I would now always associate with her. A distinguishable voice is hard to come by nowadays (listen to me preaching away again), but Rose proves that raw and original talent still exists in amongst a field where ‘dirty bit’ and ‘gangnam style’ are the hype. Moving straight into her second song of the night, ‘Red Face,’ the singer looked so at ease on stage and she looked as though she was relishing every second of it.  I found her even more charming than I thought I would as she interacted with the crowd, especially when she performed a new song she had been working on, mentioning how nervous she had been as she still couldn’t quite get it right. Opening up to your audience is something a crowd at a gig are really eager for. Trust your fans and your fans will trust you and will show this through their confidence to sing back the artist’s lyrics right back to them. Lucy had her crowd laughing, singing, bopping, shouting out ‘We love you Lucy’ throughout.

‘Middle of the bed,’ created an excitable wave through the audience, as well as ‘Bikes’ where the crowd simultaneously cheered as Rose sang ‘Listen up, Listen hear, everybody scream out loud!’ A smile was permanently pressed on Lucy’s face as she demanded the crowd to shout scream and be merry. I’ve always loved two kinds of performers 1) who commands the stage and 2) who continually reminds their fans of how grateful they are for their support. The best part is that Lucy oozes both. She exudes stage presence but without the gimmicks or the strutting, just the music.

There was an atmospheric awe which stayed from the moment Lucy Rose walked onto the stage right through to the encore where the crowd yelled ‘ONE MORE SONG! ONE MORE SONG!’ in unison, causing a rapturous ripple of applause until she came back to perform her final two songs of the night with her fellow band mates. She jokes about crowd surfing, before sailing straight into ‘Don’t you Worry.’ The gig was just a sixty-minute taster of what’s to come. The crowd were using every vocal cord they had to keep her from leaving the stage and ending yet another successful night of her UK tour.

This year has sped right past us, especially for Lucy Rose who started out strumming away in a local park hoping to release an album which is now spread on billboards across the UK’s capital.

Lucy once sang:

And you said, “Everything will be the same”

But look here, everything is gonna change

And you said, “It’s what I needed”

I don’t believe it

… But she better, ‘cos 2013 is going to be even more unbelievable.