LIVE REVIEW: Bombay Bicycle Club - O2 Academy Bristol, 12th March 2014

Originally published at Middle Boop Mag: http://www.middleboopmag.com/music/live/live-bombay-bicycle-club-o2-academy-bristol-12th-march-2014

Bombay Bicycle Club are our very own home grown, quintessential indie band. The fresh faced poster children of their generation – but can their fourth album in four years, a fast turnover for any band, do enough to keep us interested?

BBC dove in with their game changing debut record (I Had The Blues But I Shook Them Loose) back in 2010, followed it with a folk-acoustic offering (Flaws), dabbled in art-rock shoegaze (A Different Kind Of Fix) and have now added beats and loops on their current album So Long See You Tomorrow. They have fearlessly done the unthinkable – considerably reinventing their sound with each album, pleasing current fans and keeping them thoroughly refreshed, whilst attracting new ones in their droves.

Their fantastic new album has finally taken the idiosyncratic North London foursome to the lofty heights of the number one spot, which is surprisingly their first. What an achievement - the entire LP was also their first to have been entirely self-produced– promising wholly raw talent and hopeful longevity for this superb band, without needing to hide in the shadows of impressive producers.

Most bands are either loved for their ‘happy’ or ‘sad’ music, it’s not often that a band can receive equally strong reactions live to these opposite ends of the spectrum. Their live show did just that, sweeping us up in the dizzy euphoria of ‘Carry Me’, back down to the bashful heartache of‘What If’.

Having spent the last year travelling Turkey, India and Asia, Front man Jack Steadman is said to have drawn the exotic influences on the record from these travels, finding not only himself – but the true essence of the band, as trite as that sounds. ‘Feel’, another gem from their latest record was an amazing moment live, and gauging the crowds response to this unusual swerve in sound – it seems these risks have well and truly paid off.

Their performance was a whirlwind or colour and noise through their impressive back catalogue, mixing the old with the new, cherry picking from the best with no vanity filler ballads or boring, overly long instrumentals. The audience was excitable and completely consumed throughout. 

They have in the past, (and still to this day) been criticised for lacking an identity. But does having a number one album suddenly mean that they should start smashing up their guitars and making grandiose statements about the state of ‘modern music’ during their live shows now? They are a band of few words, with art and craft at the forefront of their imaginations.

LIVE REVIEW: Kodaline @ O2 Academy Bristol 18/11/2013

Originally published at Middle Boop Mag: http://www.middleboopmag.com/music/live/live-kodaline-o2-academy-bristol-18112013

Radio friendly. Soft rock. One for the mums. These are some of the connotations that your mind may subconsciously throw up at the mention of Kodaline, and you could be forgiven for this for it’s certainly how they’ve been packaged. You’ll probably recognise them from tracks like ‘High Hopes’ and ‘Love Like This’, which are played religiously on the hour, every hour on Radio One.

Essentially, the Irish four-piece are all of these dreadful things, but (hang on in there) they were bloody good live, and their album In A Perfect World is bloody fantastic too, despite it all. They’ve been compared with Coldplay, Muse and The Script, so they really are a mixed bag of what some people might call 'easy listening'. 

The gig was comprised of 30 something’s and swooning teenage/a little older girls. Their album washed appreciatively over the crowd as they fiercely and some a little too intensely (listen to ‘High Hopes’ and imagine the person next to you wiping a tear from their eye and singing along in a rather wobbly voice)  lost their minds to their biggest hits.  

It was easy, it was pleasant, and for a gig on a Monday night after a rather messy weekend, they were just what the doctor would have prescribed, if doctors dabbled in events based remedies.  I entered the building jaded, over it before it had even begun. I left a fan, and listened to the album on repeat for upwards of a week. To all your high-brow muso's out there, initial thoughts deserve to be cast aside on this one. 

LIVE REVIEW: Disclosure @ O2 Academy Bristol 16/11/2013

Originally published at Middle Boop Mag: http://www.middleboopmag.com/music/live/live-disclosure-o2-academy-bristol-17112013

The Disclosure brothers, Guy and Howard Lawrence kicked off their eight-date UK tour at Bristol’s O2 Academy on Saturday night. The pop/house duo have been extremely busy since the release of their debut album Settle (which reached number one in the UK back in June) and their smattering of top 10 singles including ‘Latch’, ‘You And Me’ and ‘F For You’. The pair also played just about every summer festival going, and have just finished off a string of US and European dates.

Support came from Aussie music whizz- kid producer Flume, could there have been a better warm-up? Flume set the tone of the evening with his experimental and avant-garde beats, and took it beyond a gig, coupled with the fact is was a Saturday night, his tracks ‘Sleepless’, ‘Insane’, ‘Holdin On’ and ‘On Top’ went off in a huge way.

Disclosure’s sound was crisp, their set flawless, yet there was noticeably a certain lack of atmosphere. The boys didn’t really talk much between tracks, and it felt as if they were hammering through their set in the same fashion a check-out operator might idly scan through someone’s grocery shopping. It lacked a certain something, and although a joy to hear all of their summer infused tracks in succession, it felt as if you may as well be hearing them in some club played out by the resident DJ.

The highlight of their set was on last track ‘Latch’, which debuted at number one in the UK back in spring. Vocalist Sam Smith came to join them on-stage and his silky smooth vocals echoed around the room. The Disclosure album seemed to divide opinions, some found it amazing, some even stated it the best thing to happen to current dance music, others found it monotonous and sterile. This difference in opinion may well be true of their live shows too, but coming from a huge fan of the album, it was overall rather disappointing.

LIVE REVIEW: Of Monsters and Men – O2 Academy Bristol 27/02/13

Originally published at Middle Boop Mag: http://www.middleboopmag.com/music/live/live-monsters-and-men-%E2%80%93-o2-academy-bristol-270213

It’s not often that a band all the way from snowy Iceland grace the stage of The O2 Academy Bristol. The blissful Of Monsters and Men played this venue as part of their 10 date UK tour. Their debut album My Head Is An Animal was released last year and peaked at number three in the UK, number one in Ireland and Austria and a succession of other high positions across the globe.

The band, who have been together since 2010 were signed to Record Records after  playing a number of dates in their native Iceland and being invited to perform on the radio station Iceland Airwaves.

It was an opportune time to unleash their brand of thoughtful and beautiful folk music upon the world, in the wake of bands such as Mumford and Sons and The Lumineers, our ears were ripened to these dulcet and sensitive tones.Their singles ‘Mountain Sound’, ‘Little Talks’ and ‘Dirty Paws’ were received with a burst of adulation from the crowd. The six-piece frequently interacted with the audience in their very Icelandic manner, being softly spoken, thankful and humble.

Co-female vocalist Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir, sounding much like a softer Florence seemed almost startled by the crowd, but her rendition of ‘Skeletons’ by The Yeah Yeah Yeah’s was unexpected and chillingly superior. They had hired a young, blonder haired girl to tour with them, and every five minutes she would change instrument, from a big drum to an accordion to a trumpet.

Co-male vocalist Raggi" Þórhallsson was also a pleasure to behold, a favourite moment was when he told the crowd, “This song is about a very tall man, a lake and a house, and it’s called... Lakehouse.” As a band, and their music says the same, they seem very innocent and unspoilt, possibly a product of their rural and simplistic upbringings in Iceland. It must have been a culture shock to tour the UK.

Of Monsters and Men were played absolutely blinding set, and there was a strong sense of pleasantry and peace amongst the crowd. On the way out, all that could be heard was how amazing they were live, and how it more that exceeded people’s expectations.