#brotherandbones

New music blog is up! Featuring: #BrotherAndBones #CharlotteCarpenter #BillyLockett #AndrewStJames #BandOfBeginners

These tracks were released in the last six months, and finds I felt worth noting. I encourage you to for sure give each one a listen to and hopefully you all will find a favorite or two. At the bottom is a link to a Spotify playlist with all these tracks!

  “Omaha” by Brother & Bones (released Mar 13, 2015)

Let’s begin at the “Omaha,”which is a strong chorus and drum driven track that is nothing…

On purchasing these tickets 6 months (ish) ago I wasn't fully prepared for how much I would end up looking forwards to this evening. Bastille's fan base seems to have exploded since I first found them, as I found out when I tried to see them at Glastonbury- couldn't even entertain the thought of getting in the tent, so this gig was long overdue.

This gig was always going to be a winner with me as the first support group was *drum roll* Brother & Bones (for whom I have already confessed my love previously). At the end of the day I was hoping Bastille would be great but even if they were a bit rubbish I would have been happy to have been there just to see Brother & Bones.

As it turns out, Bastille weren't even a little bit rubbish.

So the night started off on a high note, Brother & Bones were on great form and I'm sure will have picked up new fans during their set which was fast, punchy and full of all the greatness they showed at the Falmouth gig on Saturday (See previous post)- half an hour really wasn't long enough! I personally preferred them in the smaller venue of the Falmouth Pavilion, I think that may just be my personal preference however as I always think smaller venues feel a bit more personal and you feel a little more connected to the act (Plus the woman stood next to me in Plymouth looked like she'd swallowed a lemon, not a fan of my singing and dancing it seemed!)

Now, I always seem to have issue with the second support act- which in this case was Angel Haze. Her set, although short, seemed incredibly disjointed to the rest of the evening. It personally isn't my cup of tea, and this seemed to be the sentiment muttered round all the people I was in hearing distance of. Her rapping, which I'm sure is good and full of insightful lyrics (I don't have a lot of prior knowledge to compare her to) was- at risk of sounding like my mother- just noise. Whether there were sound issues, I don't know, but you couldn't make out anything she was saying. The only understandable elements were the prerecorded vocals (Such as Sia on Battle Cry, which is a song I unexpectedly quite like, thanks for that Radio 1) and I'm pretty sure from previous experiences I've had of the genre you should be able to understand at least some parts! She also spent a lot of her set off of the stage down by the front barrier, which is great if you're at the barrier, but being a bit further back left most people just staring at the drummer and couple of other guys on stage, would have been nice to have seen a bit more of her. From what I did she she definitely seemed to know how to handle herself on stage. As disjointed as it was, there was still enough of a beat to have a dance to and, really, isn't that one of the most important aspects?

Now I get to Bastille, what a wonderful set they performed, playing a good mix of huge hitters (Bad Blood, Things We Lost in the Fire among others) and new material hinting at what I'm sure will be a stellar new album with its fill of radio friendly sing along hits when it's finally released. The stage lighting at points was a little frenetic, even making me feel a little woozy at one point with green flashing lights all over the stage pointed directly at the audience flashing like crazy (A nightmare for any undiagnosed epileptics!) but other than that it really set the mood, the screening and lighting generally added to the vocals and performance really setting the tone of the songs and taking nothing away. As the drummer from the group is originally from Derriford (just outside of Plymouth) this was somewhat of a homecoming gig for him which the crowd lapped up completely, every mention of him being a local guy led to cheers and screams from the audience adding to what was already an electric atmosphere. I don't think I've ever seen the Pavilions so crowded and such a responsive audience, Dan Smith had every person, old and young, male and female eating right out his hands which was a great thing to see for a group that just seemed to drop straight from obscurity to easily having the fan base and talent to fill out an arena. Even the people who seemed skeptical of Angel Haze seemed to be won over (I know I was) when she joined them on stage to perform the new collaboration- Weapon. I don't think there is any doubt that the right group won Best British breakthrough Act at the Brits recently, if last night is anything to go by they're at the top of their game and look to be staying there and winning awards for many years to come. Could this collaboration with Angel Haze and new material be hinting at a change of direction for Bastille on the new album? I guess we'll have to wait and see!

Brother & Bones photos from Princess Pavilion, Falmouth 01/03/2014

The second half of the photo set. all photo credit to http://www.matthollowayphotography.co.uk/