Gig Review - Bombay Bicycle Club
Thursday 17th December 2009 @ Academy, Bristol
With Support From: Dutch Uncles, The Naturals
Upon arriving at the venue tonight, I was confronted with feeling like an OAP when stood amongst a shroud of fresh faces. I found myself glaring up at the sight of The Naturals tuning up onstage just before letting rip with their harmonious, mathed-up post-hardcore. Multi-tabbed riffs lay waist to epic guitar drones and swealtering yelps from their singer; this band have the musical ability that more then belittles their youthful looks.
Dutch Uncles offer us a totally different proposition, with a singer that looked like an overly camp Morrissey crossed with a dishevelled Rob Brydon having a fit in a bad Daddy dancing competition. They gloriously romp through a set that unashamedly nicked bits from The Talking Heads, The Cure, The Smiths, Suede and even Maximo Park as they jerked around like kids in a pic’n’mix store.
There was an intrepid sense of excitement around tonight’s show as on previous occasions Bombay Bicycle Club’s sound had really come to life, but from the off tonight I could tell something was not right as the band’s usually highly energetic sound fell as flat as a pancake. All the onstage energy just seemed to be a bit lacklustre, especially when you could hear people chattering over the top. Their usual noisy opening just seemed half mast as opener Emergency Con. Blues did not have the 3D dynamics that it usually does when they play it live; it limped lifelessly and all the call and response sections of their songs in between the two guitars were lost in the muddy sound. A lot of the atmospherics of the band’s songs were lost as the audience chatter began to grow. They tried desperately to invigorate the audience by pulling two crowd members up on stage who dressed up in Lion Costumes. It was only on the last song that their true colours of the band’s dynamics really shone through.
A rousing encore ensued bringing a satisfying end to a show that had not so much sparkled, like their previous shows, but fizzled a bit disappointingly.
www.bombaybicycleclubmusic.com
Jeffrey Johns
Copyright © 2008
January 12th, 2010 at 3:04 pm
I think we must have been at different gigs.
I must admit the crowd were all rather dull to begin with, I’m sure that this was due to the supporting acts being new to many of the crowd. You are obviously aware “feeling like an OAP” that the vast majority of the crowd were under 18, so less likely to be intoxicated and willing to dance to a new sound, especially around many others of a similar age and style. Making them more likely to abide to social conformity.
The presence of Bombay Bicycle Club made the crowd roar (reference to the lions on stage). The opener emergency contraception blues was not “Their usual noisy opening” but was far from half mast, the slower start introduced the young crowd into the gig perfectly. The younger generation of music listeners, were clearly not as confident as the tipsy elders, so a lighter start introduced them into the dynamics of the gig acting as an Interlude. From this start the atmosphere began to build, mirrored by the choice of song. Emergency Contraception Blues to the Hill was perfect progression, leading the crowd wanting more, and they got it in the form of an encore.
Would a crowd that were supposedly deflated call an encore form a “limped lifeless” band?
The appearance of the two lions may have seemed to be a desperate attempt to invigorate the audience to someone who was clearly not part of the crowd, but acting as an OAP. I can honestly say that it was the best gig I have ever been to, and I will be attending the O2 on Valentines Day, maybe you should revisit and hope that cupid’s arrow helps you see the brilliance of BOMBAY BICYCLE CLUB.
Thanks OLIVER THE LION.