The Twickenham indie rockers grace the stage of Concorde2 while a vastly varied crowd expectantly gather. A surprising range of ages have turned out to see them tonight and mod haircuts are rife.
Opening with ‘Someone Purer’, the six-strong outfit have the punters engrossed from the outset. The gang vocals sound brilliant with the venue’s acoustics, and the harmonies are perfect and penetrating.
Although they’ve covered a lot of ground since their 2004 formation, the band’s new material is still hugely appreciated, such as recent single ‘Greatest Hits’. This show sees the Londoners embark on the second cycle of a huge European tour supporting the April release ‘Radlands’. However, earlier this year, bassist Kai Fish left to pursue a solo career, so this tour sees a changed band, but hopefully for it’s the best.
As often happens, the older material is far better received, which in this case is the majority of 2008’s hugely popular album ‘Twenty-One’. When the opening of ‘Young Love’ is strummed, a track originally featuring Laura Marling, the challenging vocal melodies become apparent, snowballing into some off-key notes. Apart from this, the song is a great hit with the fans.
During one track, ‘Take Me Where The Roses Grow’, frontman Blaine Harrison brings on the female vocalist, Sophie-Rose Harper, from the opening act The Night, whose beautiful folksy trills feature on MJ’s latest album.
However, it isn’t until near the end of their set that the band really seem to get into what they are playing. The tambourine is brought out, along with the enthusiasm and energy that they lacked earlier on.
They depart with a triple treat encore beginning with ‘Half In Love With Elizabeth’, whose sound balance between the vocals and instrumentals are slightly off compared to rest of their set. This is followed by the far more flawless ‘Two Doors Down’ and ‘Alice Springs’. The audience are left pulsating with electricity as some of the indie forefathers of the noughties really show us how to move.
Concorde2, Wednesday 7th November 2012
Words by Lizzi Hart
Photos by Will Barber @ Love Heart Photography
