Friday, 29 July 2011
Laura Marling: 'Sophia'
Spare five minutes for this new track from forthcoming third album A Creature I Don't Know. 'Sophia' shines as yet another example of Marling's unfailing ability to mask wise-beyond-her-years insight with unaffected simplicity.
Friday, 15 July 2011
Arcade Fire and Mumford & Sons show Hyde Park a hoedown
They say that home is where the heart is, a sentiment proudly inherent in Mumford & Sons, London’s folk darlings, as playing Hyde Park heralded their glorious return to the motherland. Recently returned from their world tour, opening crowd-pleaser ‘Roll Away Your Stone’ quickly removed any lingering suspicions amongst virgin ears that this performance was to be a mere ‘lighters in the air’ affair. Quite the opposite in fact, as reckless revelry and abandon followed Marcus Mumford’s jubilant proposition to "have a hoedown". And my, what a hoedown it was. The hoardes of fans blanketing the park soon found themselves mercilessly swept into an electrifying jig as the boys powered out their magnetising catalogue of hits with the relentless energy of a stampede. A peppering of new tracks kept their set fresh as the devoted crowds lapped up the charged atmosphere like excitable children at Christmas, eager for a taste of what the quartet had hidden up their sleeves. Tried and tested at a multitude of festivals over the last year, the addition of a trio of brass players gave ‘Lover of the Light’ an enhanced edge whilst showcasing the band's intention to step up a gear from their heavily string-orientated sound. Three other songs meanwhile, apologetically introduced by Marcus as currently ‘Untitled’ (bar the transfixing ‘Below My Feet’), were warmly embraced. Closing with mass sing-along ‘The Cave’, Mumford & Sons triumphantly bid Hyde Park farewell having proved yet again that their stamp upon the music scene is here to stay.
Having successfully mounted the tension with their short film of ‘The Suburbs’, Hyde Park headliners Arcade Fire finally blasted onto their theatrically decorated stage to the accelerative and appropriately named force of ‘Ready to Start’. The Canadians splashed colour over a somewhat dreary London day with their dramatic backdrops, dazzling enthusiasm and indisputable musical genius. Multi-talented Régine Chassagne, sporting a stunning sparkly dress and flicking seamlessly between an impossible array of instruments, was the envy of every female (and male for that matter), whilst compellingly charismatic front man Win Butler cleverly opted for a shock tactic by playing ‘Wake Up’, usually reserved for the close of the show, early into proceedings. "We wanted to play this one while we could still see you" explained Butler, as a widespread grin of satisfaction spread like wildfire across the park whether he could actually see the smiles or not. ‘Speaking in Tongues’ debuted at the gig, to palpable intrigue and rapturous applause, whilst the emotive ‘Intervention’ and rousing ‘Rebellion (Lies)’ elevated the crowd to the dizzying heights of an ecstatic live music experience.
Having paved the way to world domination out of relative obscurity and achieved awards left, right and centre over the last year alone (including Album of the Year at the Grammys), Arcade Fire have risen like phoenixes from the still glowing embers of every album, from Funeral back in 2004 to most recent third effort The Suburbs. The quirky septet gained momentum with every roaring chorus, ensuring that their masterclass in crowd engagement never once stalled. A perfectly orchestrated encore of ‘Keep the Car Running’, nostalgic charmer ‘Neighbourhood #1 (Tunnels)' and the empowering ‘Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)' may have drawn the gig to a close, but the memory of it was to resonate longer after Win, Régine and co. had left the stage.
Unfortunately the sound, as is far too often the case at open air shows, let both impressive performances down somewhat, resulting in evident frustration both amongst the crowd and on-stage. Win could not resist a brief but defiant rant at the nearby residents for whose respect the decibel level had to be kept low. Why they weren't there too is beyond me, whatever happened to ‘if you can’t beat’em, join’em’? Those present however, were blessed with the privilege of witnessing two bands arguably at or approaching the peak of their careers. As soothingly sung by Mumford & Sons earlier in the evening, 'you would have loved it here tonight’.
Arcade Fire and Mumford & Sons played London's Hyde Park, 30/06/11.
(NB. Beirut and The Vaccines also played as support but I regrettably missed their sets. Well, I regrettably missed Beirut's set anyhow.)
Having successfully mounted the tension with their short film of ‘The Suburbs’, Hyde Park headliners Arcade Fire finally blasted onto their theatrically decorated stage to the accelerative and appropriately named force of ‘Ready to Start’. The Canadians splashed colour over a somewhat dreary London day with their dramatic backdrops, dazzling enthusiasm and indisputable musical genius. Multi-talented Régine Chassagne, sporting a stunning sparkly dress and flicking seamlessly between an impossible array of instruments, was the envy of every female (and male for that matter), whilst compellingly charismatic front man Win Butler cleverly opted for a shock tactic by playing ‘Wake Up’, usually reserved for the close of the show, early into proceedings. "We wanted to play this one while we could still see you" explained Butler, as a widespread grin of satisfaction spread like wildfire across the park whether he could actually see the smiles or not. ‘Speaking in Tongues’ debuted at the gig, to palpable intrigue and rapturous applause, whilst the emotive ‘Intervention’ and rousing ‘Rebellion (Lies)’ elevated the crowd to the dizzying heights of an ecstatic live music experience.
Having paved the way to world domination out of relative obscurity and achieved awards left, right and centre over the last year alone (including Album of the Year at the Grammys), Arcade Fire have risen like phoenixes from the still glowing embers of every album, from Funeral back in 2004 to most recent third effort The Suburbs. The quirky septet gained momentum with every roaring chorus, ensuring that their masterclass in crowd engagement never once stalled. A perfectly orchestrated encore of ‘Keep the Car Running’, nostalgic charmer ‘Neighbourhood #1 (Tunnels)' and the empowering ‘Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)' may have drawn the gig to a close, but the memory of it was to resonate longer after Win, Régine and co. had left the stage.
Unfortunately the sound, as is far too often the case at open air shows, let both impressive performances down somewhat, resulting in evident frustration both amongst the crowd and on-stage. Win could not resist a brief but defiant rant at the nearby residents for whose respect the decibel level had to be kept low. Why they weren't there too is beyond me, whatever happened to ‘if you can’t beat’em, join’em’? Those present however, were blessed with the privilege of witnessing two bands arguably at or approaching the peak of their careers. As soothingly sung by Mumford & Sons earlier in the evening, 'you would have loved it here tonight’.
Arcade Fire and Mumford & Sons played London's Hyde Park, 30/06/11.
(NB. Beirut and The Vaccines also played as support but I regrettably missed their sets. Well, I regrettably missed Beirut's set anyhow.)
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