Bastille @ Festival Hall
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Bastille @ Festival Hall

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Festival Hall was filled just about to capacity for London’s Bastille on a cold Sunday night. Last time the four-piece toured in 2012, they played the Corner Hotel just as Pompeii was breaking. Since then they’ve released their debut album Bad Blood and a repackaged re-release of it (as is the norm so often these days) and gained significant airplay and fans alike.

Before they performed, the adoring crowd were treating to two high profile supports. From the time the doors opened at the early time of 7pm, Alison Wonderland put in a solid hour on the decks at her usual high standard mixing current alternative hits and ‘90s nostalgia together before later returning for a half hour slot before the main attraction took to the stage.

British up and comer Louise Rose Allen, known professionally under her moniker Foxes, performed a generously lengthy 45-minute support set. Full of energy, dressed in a slightly skimpy yet fun multi coloured two-piece, the singer bounded around the stage interacting with all corners of the audience. Her vocal capacity, the notes she hit and her set list were all nothing short of superb. Let Go For Tonight providedthe highlight and her final song packed amongst other hits including the well-known Clarity.

Having a support with the mesmerising vocal talent of Foxes probably wasn’t the best call from organisers as it raised the expectation levels for Bastille considerably. The London lads walked on stage about as casually as humanly possible to insane raptures from the audience before standing still while a voice over and build music created a 30 Seconds to Mars style opener before the band broke into Bad Blood. In the next track, as with the first, singer Dan Smith struggled with his vocals due to poor foldback and it showed. The talent of Foxes beforehand also overexposed this shaky start.

Smith’s vocals improved as the show wore on, and slow songs with limited instrumentation such as Overjoyed brought out the best in his voice. When the drums and guitar volume intensified he tried to sing louder and audibly strained. As mentioned, he did get better and acclimatised as the gig continued. Highlights included the epic Icarus, Things We Lost in the Fire and Flaws.

 

The vocal issues didn’t prevent the set from being a really enjoyable one at all and what was really great to witness was Smith’s enthusiastic audience interaction including walking through the crowd during The Draw. His humbleness at playing such a large venue was also really nice to hear. His dance moves, however, did make Peter Garrett look good. The final note was an overwhelmingly positive one as the band delivered a knock-out blow with their killer performance of monster hit Pompeii.

BY ALEXANDER CROWDEN

Loved: Foxes giving an absolute master class.

Hated: Sound issues.

Drank: Coldstream cider.