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Bombay Bicycle Club – Leeds Music Scene

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Live at O2 Academy Leeds1 on Sunday, 2nd March 2014

Bombay Bicycle Club2 have always been a difficult band to pin down. New album, So Long, See You tomorrow, spent a brief period at number one in the album charts and yet you would be hard pressed to pick any of the band’s four members out of a line up, whilst their musical eclecticism – their albums run the gamut from acoustic folk to the floaty, synth pop blended with African and Eastern influences sounds of the current record – can be as confusing and distancing to their audience, as it is technically impressive. On record they may delight and infuriate in equal measure but what of their live show?

In short it distills all of the bands strength and weaknesses into the space of an hour and a half. The musicianship on display is unfalteringly exquisite and the songs are unfailingly pleasant to the ear and yet there is something missing at the heart of the performance – call it charisma, magnetism or star quality – that prevents the show from igniting into something truly spectacular. Perhaps it is as simple as a lack of stage presence: there is something about the band that reminds you of slightly geeky sixth formers, whilst frontman, Jack Steadman, often struggles to engage the crowd, relying too often on his ‘how are your hangovers?’ gambit.

Does he believe the entire crowd is made up of first year students? And yet the band undoubtedly harbours a sense of ambition and a desire to entertain; you only have to witness the beautifully designed back projections that play throughout the gig to see this. In fact the set begins promisingly with the band receiving a raucous reception from a crowd warmed up by the selection of eighties hits that has been emanating from the PA for a good 20 minutes and they waste no time at all, immediately launching into a run of songs from the new album.

It’s Alright Now, glistens and glides over swelling, undulating guitars and keys. Similarly, Wherever, Whenever (which Steadman quips is the song responsible for the impressive album sales figures with Asda shoppers mistaking it for their favourite Shakira song) is similarly ambient, with a wafting melody. But too many of the songs are the aural equivalent of a sultry summer breeze and the momentum of the set suffers as a result, often meandering and lulling like a hot afternoon.

Which is not to say that there aren’t peaks when the band demonstrate exactly what they are capable of, with the set at its best when it offers something different. Home By Now is a beautiful ballad that features a stunning vocal duet with backing singer Liz Lawrence. But best of all are Overdone and Feel which inject some melodic spice with the addition of African and Eastern elements – and a horn section – that give the songs the kind of rhythmical bite and dynamic punctuation lacking in much of the set.

Bombay Bicycle Club3 are one of the most interesting and underrated pop bands currently at work in Britain, so it is a shame they aren’t always able to communicate this during their live shows.

On the other hand, with this being the first gig of the tour, they may just have been warming up.

References

  1. ^ O2 Academy Leeds (www.leedsmusicscene.net)
  2. ^ Bombay Bicycle Club (www.leedsmusicscene.net)
  3. ^ Bombay Bicycle Club (www.leedsmusicscene.net)

The post Bombay Bicycle Club – Leeds Music Scene appeared first on musicBlogs.


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