Bastille’s
journey to success is an undeniably impressive one: in just one year they have
gone from playing small gigs to a few hundred curious spectators to selling-out
one of the most iconic music venues in the country to thousands of loyal
supporters. And that’s without mentioning their number one album, performing at
Glastonbury and winning a Brit Award. Not a bad twelve months by any account.
As singer
Dan Smith reminded the audience throughout the concert, this was the band’s
biggest gig to date and there was an underlying sense of uncertainty, as if the
group were rather star-struck by their own achievements.
Of course,
it’s a challenge not to be overwhelmed by the stunning building that is
Alexandra Palace. The venue has a strong musical history, having seen the likes
of Led Zeppelin, The Stone Roses and Blur, so Bastille really needed to take
ownership of the space and prove that they were worthy of that stage.
Alongside
the concert was marketed an indoor festival, starting late afternoon. The large
area prior to the main performance space was filled with numerous food and
drink stalls and the first of Bastille’s support acts, Rag N Bone Man, was
performing in the middle of the buzz. It was a shame that the electric
atmosphere that had been so perfectly constructed was somewhat lost when
entering the vast expanses of the main arena.
The second
support act, rapper Angel Haze, couldn’t help but seem a little out of place
amongst the jazzy tones of Rag and Bone Man and the lyrical melancholy of
Bastille themselves, though her energy, enthusiasm and stage-presence were
unrivalled. Angel Haze was mostly rapping over the top of pre-recorded singing,
and on the occasions that she did sing herself it seemed as though she might
have had a sore or strained throat – either that or she simply didn’t have the
vocal range she was belting for.
After the
almost in-your-face style of performance from Angel Haze, Bastille’s laid-back
and reserved approach felt a little flat and underwhelming and this took a
while to pick up. Whether it was a technical let-down or the band’s
inexperience with large venues, the music – both instrumental and vocal – was too
quiet to begin with and Bastille didn’t quite manage to fill the lofty space
with their swelling melodies.
Although
this vastly improved throughout their set, the band didn’t achieve full
audience committal until the whole venue was jumping up and down for the final
two numbers, 'Of the Night' and 'Pompeii'.
Dan’s
modesty and the simplicity of the set did’t allow for much of a spectacular or
interactive and personality-fuelled performance, however his vocals fall
nothing short of flawless and this quality of musicianship is maintained across
the band. Though this is an impressive skill to have and proves that Bastille
is a highly talented group, it would have been interesting to see them take
some risks with their songs and steer away from playing them exactly as heard
on the album, even if this did take away from some of the vocal quality. The
band did invite Rag N Bone Man and Angel Haze to the stage during their set, but
neither of these performances was particularly memorable.
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