I am going to start off by saying Wild Beasts are
currently the best band in Britain. A bold claim I guess, but pretty accurate
nonetheless. With three consistently brilliant albums under their belt, Wild
Beasts manage to create records that are both intriguing and encapsulating. This
was my third time bearing witness to their live show. The last two times I felt
never quite lived up to everything their records hinted at; they were at a
festival and a half-full Music Hall, so maybe location was never on their side.
Tonight’s show was at the kind of venue Wild Beast’s music would thrive in
though: a small dark room.
Opening tonight’s set with Bed Of Nails, Wild Beasts sounded almost identical to their records,
but somehow managed to add an extra layer of texture: it was all rather lush
and unavoidable to get immersed in. Tonight’s set consisted mainly of most
recent album Smother and 2009’s Two Dancers, with the band only once
visiting their debut to play The Devil’s
Crayon. This was probably for the best as their earlier album containing
more angular and straight-up indie rock songs would have fragmented tonight’s
set, a sonic journey through Wild Beast’s dreamy landscapes.
Hayden Thorpe admitted “We made this album… but had no
idea how we could recreate it live,” the band being short of hands to recreate
the many textures of keyboards and synthesizers lauded on Smother. Cue Tom Fleming declaring “Katie Harkin came to the rescue
so we could play this live!” Katie Harkin, of Sky Larkin fame, is now the
band’s touring keyboardist.
Before playing Two
Dancers (I), Hayden revealed that “we haven’t played this song in ages, you
are all guinea pigs tonight,” however you could not tell the song had been out
of practice which was played as precisely as the record and still sounded
fresh. The band then ended with Hooting
& Howling to a wave of applause as they left the stage… only to return
within the next minute. “We’re sorry about that… it is all a bit of a panto
really, isn’t it?” Hayden added, revealing his thoughts on the process of the
encore.
Nevertheless this ‘encore’ provided the perfect platform
for launching into most recent album opener Lion’s
Share, which was perfectly suited for opening up the band’s encore.
Inevitably the biggest cheer of the night was going to come as the drums for All The King’s Men kicked in, causing
the first sing-along of the evening to start off. Of course, all good things
come to an end and closer End Comes Too
Soon was a pretty fitting summary of tonight’s show. The song, a build-up
of euphoria, was outstanding live, dropping halfway through to a wave of
ambient noise and building up again to a moment of sheer audio bliss.
Wild Beasts played…
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
Lion’s Share
All The King’s Men
End Come Too Soon
RT
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