Bombay Bicycle Club – De Montfort Hall
The last time I saw Bombay Bicycle Club (BBC) had been at Glastonbury 2011, as you may or may not remember from my Glastonbury review. At this gig, they introduced new songs that were to appear on their now-released album, ‘A Different Kind of Fix’.
On first listen, I had been reasonably impressed by the songs but had been worried about the new direction they seemed to be taking. It felt like BBC had decided to follow every other band in adding electronic elements to develop a band and I remember shuddering when I saw a Daft Punk-esque vocoder.
However, I’m happy to say I’m now a big fan of the album and it’s a risk of theirs which has paid off. Of course, it’s important to see how these tracks come across for a second taste…
Support came from Rae Morris and Lianne La Havas.
Morris was pleasant to listen to with a strong voice and a great ear for crafting a well-built song. The only thing that held her back was a lack of accompaniment which, as I know first hand, can be difficult to find but is important to mention nonetheless.
I worried La Havas may suffer from the same problem when she sang her first song beautifully albeit without a band. Luckily, I was treated to accompaniment of drums, piano and bass which really pushed her songs to the next level. Her single ‘Lost and Found’ is well-worth taking a look at and was the highlight of the support acts.
On to Bombay Bicycle Club. A veil was raised which stars were then projected on. As the choral element of opening track on ‘A Different…’ begins the band arrive with lead singer Jack Steadman being lit up like an indie Jesus as he begins ‘Can I wake you up…’ Suddenly, the veil drops as the rest of the band kick in and we are treated to the first of many ‘knock your socks off’ moments.
The backdrop to the gig in the beautifully decked out De Montfort Hall contained this level of attention to detail throughout with spinning lights behind the band, as well as imposing faces straight from the album artwork, providing an visual spectacle as well as aural.
Later on, as I hadn’t expected, BBC played tracks off acoustic album, ‘Flaws’ semi-electric and they seemed to somehow fit a drum solo into ‘Rinse Me Down’ with the aid of, believe it or not, a steel bin.
Perhaps the most beautiful moment was ‘Still’ with Jack Steadman and Lucy Rose (who contributed to Flaws and was present at points through the gig providing extra vocals) alone on the stage with a piano. As the track came to a close, Steadman can be seen to be crying and it shows how much, as a song, it means to him.
The set finished on ‘The Giantess…’ off of debut album ‘I Had the Blues…’ before the band arrived in an encore for ‘Shuffle’ and providing big moments in ‘What If’.
The gig was thoroughly enjoyable and shows the level of professionalism that helps separate this band from the non-progressive NME chaff.
9/10
Setlist
- Encore:
