I was looking forward to this gig for months, almost as soon as my mate
Nick rushed into my room one day to tell me that the band we had failed
to see in a small venue in our adopted hometown of Bath were finally launching
a full tour. Having listened to the album 'Myths of the Near Future' practically
non-stop for a month after getting it, this always meant that I was going
to have a preconception of the night in the back of my mind, and that
the gig was going to be amazing. Another bonus of the night was that it
was being held at the Bristol Academy, a venue I have come to love over
the course of my gigging experience and in my opinion, the perfect setting
for the event to unfold in.
The night got off to an indifferent start, however, as the first support
band going by the name of Yebo Robo were, to be brutally honest, absolutely
awful. The gauge of how unpopular they were came in the fact that it took
me almost an hour to even find out what they were called, as no-one was
going to openly admit to liking them! The only point in which I was interested
in what was occurring during their set was their arrival, as the wacky
costumes the band chose to adorn could not help but catch your attention.
However, this is the only thing that was memorable or different about
them, the whole set sounded the same with the singer howling into the
microphone just to make noise it seemed. Therefore, it was unsurprising
that they were booed from about halfway through their set.
However, things then took a turn for the better. Shy Child announced their
arrival on the stage in a way that all good bands really should. No gimmicks,
no costumes to catch attention, just a catchy beat and good music to boot.
The band consists of just two people, one playing a keyboard shaped and
worn like a guitar and the other a drummer. It is an intriguing mix, but
one that worked from the offset, the electro beats coming from the keyboard
complemented brilliantly by the roll of the drums. It was the perfect
setup for the Klaxons, the crowd got engaged from the start and were it
not for what was to follow, then it could be said that the band deserved
longer on the stage. One to look out in the future in my opinion.
Then came the point where I started acting like an overexcited child.
The Klaxons came onto the stage and the place just erupted in anticipation.
The set opened with The Bouncer from the Xan Valleys EP, and just announced
what the band are all about. Following on to that was 'Atlantis To Interzone',
the one song that I thought was always guaranteed to excite the crowd.
It did not disappoint. And that was that, the band continued to play their
way through majority, if not all, of the songs from the album and the
EP's, with the vocals from both Jamie and James, the drum skills of Steffan
and Simon on lead guitar resonating in my mind with the perfection I had
expected from the start. Other highlights were my personal favourite 'Its
Not Over Yet' and the fantastic 'Gravity's Rainbow'. The lyrics to that
particular song state that we should go with them to infinity, if they
continue to play music as good as this, I might just take them up on the
offer.
Review By Anthony
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