who: wild beasts
where: o2 academy, liverpool, uk
when: 17 march 2012
support: johnny sands; alt-j
wild beasts is certainly one of those bands that you could go and see live at least once a month. when one show is over, you're already planning the next one and it can't come fast enough. four months that easily felt like a year, have passed since i last saw them at the manchester cathedral. it was a show full of magic in a unique surrounding with an amazing sound - something that would be very difficult to top. let's see if they managed to do that last saturday night in liverpool...
usually when you're excited to see the headline band, the support acts are nothing but annoying. from time to time though it happens that the support turns out to be quite alright and sometimes they're even so impressive that you want to see them again as soon as possible. i'm not really sure that johnny sands is one of those support acts. his sound is described as alternative / electroacoustic / french pop on his myspace page. alternative? hm, is something different in my opinion. french pop? not sure what was specifically french about his music. electroacoustic? probably the best description out of these three but it still doesn't quite describe what we've heard on saturday. besides the fact that he basically had no stage presence whatsoever, his vocals were not significant in any way and his sound didn't do it for me either, neither the electric guitar not the acoustic guitar. so in my book johnny sands belongs to the category of support acts that you just have to deal with if you want to enjoy the headline band from the first row and therefore have to arrive early.
 |
| alt-j |
on the contrary, alt-j is a support band that you have to see again. i've read quite a lot of reviews about them before and it seemed like people genuinely enjoyed their music and their live performances. after seeing them supporting wild beasts, i would sign that statement. their music is a mix between james blake and wild beasts actually, but lead singer joe newman's vocals clearly set them apart from both of these acts. to be honest, they need a bit of getting used to at first. however, once you're over the initial "shock", you realise how well his voice goes together with their sound. backing vocals mainly come from gus unger-hamilton on keyboards and guitarist gwilym sainsbury. thom green on drums completes the alt-j line up. their stage appearance reminded me a lot of conor o'brien and his band villagers - sweaters that were definitely not the right size, cardigans and button-down shirts made them look like 12-year old school boys, but i guess that only added to their charm. alt-j delivered a more than decent set and are definitely a band to keep an eye on this year.
 |
| tom fleming |
but in most cases, it doesn't matter how good or bad the support was, it's always nerve-wracking to wait for the headline band. as soon as the stage went dark and burning was blasting from the speakers, it was obvious that the audience clearly couldn't contain their excitement anymore. once wild beasts finally entered the stage and opened their set with a beautiful rendition of bed of nails, it seemed like they won the entire crowd over in an instant. their sound is based somewhere between alternative, indie rock and what some people call dream pop. i personally find it quite hard to categorise them as it seems like they don't fully fit into one single genre. i'm not hinting that they invented a completely new genre, instead they combine many different genres into one that simply doesn't have a proper name yet.
normally people instantly have a favourite band member when they first listen to a new band. most of the times they can't even explain why they prefer one to the other. when it comes to wild beasts, i always found it really difficult to pick a favourite because it just seems like an impossible thing to do. of course hayden thorpe's falsetto voice is probably their most obvious trademark and usually the first thing that people notice. despite the fact that his vocals are not only absolutely gorgeous, they simply sound astonishing in every context - up-tempo songs like we still got the taste dancin' on our tongues or more mellow ones like albatross or lion's share, hayden makes it all work. what makes the wild beasts vocals in general even more unique is the addition of tom fleming's baritone. both voices go along so well, it is an absolute pleasure to listen to them. especially hearing loop the loop live makes you forget everything around you, you're simply caught up in the moment. when hayden and tom sing "oh, don't you think that people are the hardest things?" together, you can't help but be amazed and lost for words. that's at least what normally happens to me. tom's vocals are obviously different to hayden's but definitely not any less special. songs like two dancers or all the king's men clearly highlight his vocal talent and just show that wild beasts have more than one talented singer.
 |
| benny little |
but of course wild beasts wouldn't be wild beasts without benny little on guitar and chris talbot on drums. even though it always feels like i'm most excited about hearing tom sing live, i often catch myself staring at benny and chris simply because the way they play their instruments is mesmerising and just magical. the guitar during hooting & howling and all the king's men sounds live just as amazing as it does on record. to make their live show sound as good as their record is something not a lot of bands are capable of doing. wild beasts are definitely a band that can totally pull this off though. which brings me back to chris talbot. i'm certainly not an expert on drums (or any other instrument for that matter) but i just can't see how anyone cannot love his drumming skills. the fun powder plot, two dancers or definitely the devil's crayon wouldn't be half as brilliant if it wasn't for chris. of course this is only me again but if you have a thing for awesome drummers and don't know wild beasts or specifically chris talbot yet, do yourelf a favour and check them out.
the thing about those four lads from kendal is simply that you either hate them or you absolutely love them. it's more than obvious which side i'm on but i guess it could easily be the other way around. i'm glad though that their music grabbed me from the first record limbo, panto (2008) to their latest release smother (2011) because wild beasts are without a doubt one of the finest live bands that are out there. it doesn't matter if you're a fan or not, everyone has to admit that their live shows are full of magic and something you just can't resist. if you're not too fond of them at this point, it is probably worth a try to catch one of their live shows. you might change your mind afterwards, or actually i'm pretty sure you would.
they played a nice mix of all three records, including signature songs like this is our lot, and ended their set and their three song encore with an excellent end come too soon, which is without a doubt a rather perfect ending. compared to the show at the manchester cathedral last november, i wouldn't say that one was better than the other, they were just different but equally great. like kenny s. mcguane of under the radar once said: "wild beasts make music where the weird meets the gorgeous, the creepy meets the sexy and the devastating meets the inspirational." i highly doubt that there's a more fitting description out there at the moment.
setlist
bed of nails
we still got the taste dancin' on our tongues
albatross
the devil's crayon
the fun powder plot
two dancers (ii)
deeper
this is our lot
loop the loop
two dancers (i)
reach a bit further
hooting & howling
encore
lion's share
all the king's men
end come too soon
 |
| wild beasts |
 | ||
| hayden thorpe |
 |
| chris talbot |
 |
| wild beasts |
Love it! :) That's all.
ReplyDeleteOh, great pictures too. ;)