Category: Live Reviews

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Live Reviews Music

Bilk bring chaos to Omeara

The chanting (“Bilk! Bilk! Bilk!”) begins even before the band take the stage. The chaos begins soon after they do. Within the opening minute of Fashion, as any partially filled pint cups are still being hurled towards Omeara’s stage, the audience starts bouncing. Not long after, the first body’s up in the air. As if on cue, the moshing kicks off. And so it goes, pausing only when singer-guitarist Sol Abrahams spots a punch being thrown and has the punter ejected. (Tonight’s manifesto is clear: have fun, go wild, and don’t be a dick.) Not even the relatively restrained Part And Parcel — featuring just voice and guitar — is complete without a crowd surfer.

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Live Reviews Music

PVRIS are big and bold in London

Too often live shows highlight a band’s shortcomings. Especially if that band’s carefully crafted albums favour a big, slick production style over capturing the raw energy of real people playing together. Without the studio trickery to hide behind, on stage their limitations as performers, musicians, or songwriters become glaringly obvious.

That’s not the case with PVRIS. Instead, their big, bold performance at Hammersmith’s Eventim Apollo highlights several things not immediately obvious from their records. Their songs, which mash up rock, electro, and hip-hop elements, are actually more substance than style. Singer/songwriter Lynn Gunn is no slouch as a guitarist. And her voice is far more powerful and — with rich soulful, bluesy hints — far more nuanced than some of the autotuned studio recordings suggest.

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Live Reviews Music

The 1975 seek that human connection

To the strains of Mahler’s Adagietto, Matty Healy has just felt himself up on a couch, taken at least two bites of a raw slab of meat, done shirtless push-ups in front of a wall of ’60s TV sets, and climbed right into one of those flickering screens.

Where does one go from there?

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Live Reviews Music

Fields Of The Nephilim come alive in the dark

Few bands have as strong an identity as Fields Of The Nephilim. Even seen in silhouette — partly obscured by a dry ice fog; wearing their trademark wide-brimmed hats, mirrored sunglasses, long duster coats, cowboy boots, and a shroud of mystery — they’re unmistakable. Musically, there’s nothing quite like their pairing of what would become goth signatures (baritone vocals, chiming chords, bleak soundscapes, a bass player convinced they’re lead guitarist) with twangy Spaghetti Western slide guitar. And lyrically, Carl McCoy’s interests — religion, the occult, the Victorian underworld — shaped a post-apocalyptic world to match the music’s brooding sense of unease.

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Live Reviews Music

The Cure give their all at Wembley Arena

“So the fire is almost out and there’s nothing left to burn,” Robert Smith claimed on 39, which dealt with the prospect of turning 40. That was almost 25 years ago. On the basis of The Cure’s live shows over the past decade, three phenomenal performances at Wembley Arena this week, and five spectacular new songs, someone had better call the fire department. That fire’s still blazing.

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Live Reviews Music

The Gulls take flight

Staying on top of new music (or even music new to you) can be a full-time job. For some people it is. For those without that privilege, there are several ways to make do. The radio, those you-might-like-this algorithms on streaming services, websites like Louder Than War, and press releases all have their place. But they still involve some work. And none are quite as likely to stick as a personal recommendation from someone you trust.

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Live Reviews Music

The Hu rumble like thunder

It all started with the videos. Striking, cinematic, breathtaking, they’re stuffed with sweeping helicopter shots of deserts, mountains, and men playing instruments high up on rocky outcrops — not unlike those Bon Jovi and Guns N’ Roses videos from 30 years ago. But there’s no sign of Richie Sambora, Slash, or a Gibson Les Paul.

Instead, the scenery features a Mongol warrior on horseback and four musicians in traditional Mongolian costumes playing traditional Mongolian instruments, singing in Mongolian about their heritage, their history, their culture, their respect for nature, their message of unity.

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Live Reviews Music

Placebo never let you go at Brixton Academy

Placebo really don’t want you on your phone — filming or taking photos — during their show. A polite, heartfelt note on their social media platforms explains how a sea of mobiles makes it difficult for them to connect with the audience and disrespects other fans. Plus watching a gig through a screen takes you out of the moment.

“Our purpose is to create communion & transcendence. Please help us on our mission,” urge Brian Molko and Stefan Olsdal in the message, which is also projected onto the backdrop while the roadies set up. Eventually, Molko’s disembodied voice even reads it out.

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Live Reviews Music

Fontaines D.C. show off their immense power

Selling out three consecutive nights at Hammersmith’s Eventim Apollo is a pretty good hint you’ve made it as a live act. So is having a sea of people in the stalls — sometimes surging, sometimes raging, always moving.

But the real sign is an audience that doesn’t just shout back every word; they sing along to melodies with such gusto it almost renders the musicians pointless. The Cure have Play For Today. Iron Maiden have Fear Of The Dark. On the last night of their London residency, Fontaines D.C. have A Lucid Dream and Big Shot.

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Live Reviews Music

Beth Orton shares her masterpiece at KOKO

About 45 minutes into her performance, Beth Orton asks: “Can we have the big ball?” KOKO’s massive rose gold mirror ball starts spinning, bathing the already magnificent venue in floating specks of red light. It’s yet another reminder — from the singer’s gold-sequined frock to the fairy lights decorating her keyboard — that this is less of a gig and more of a celebration. A celebration of an artist, her determination, and the resulting masterpiece.

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