Bombay Bicycle Club

Astoria2, London - 17 Nov 2007

by Jon Fletcher

The challenge of playing a club night fails to hinder North London hopefuls

"Musically, it’s almost perfect – assisted by a set up that brings out the nuances of key instruments at the right moments. Above all, BBC are about great songs"

Photo © Riaz Phillips
 
This particular portion of New Noise has waited a long while to catch a Bombay Bicycle Club show and tonight carries a weight of expectation. Over the last few months we’ve been returning to the eight BBC songs we’ve been able to get our hands on so far again and again, captivated by Jack Steadman’s tremulous vocals and the band’s emotive pull.

Club nights are always a bizarre mix of fans pulled in by the promise of the live bands and those there to spaz out drunkenly to whatever the DJ has to offer. When BBC take to the stage at 1.00am, Push – held in the recently renamed Astoria2 (formerly the Mean Fiddler) – has not yet drawn in sufficient numbers to fill the main room. It’s a testing scenario for a new band, but BBC come through with flying colours, the space in front of them coming alive through the course of their set.

Live, they are professionally lively, which is to say that they dart around the stage a fair amount (and in the case of guitarist Jamie MacColl, perch perilously atop a speaker stack), but do it with a sort of perfunctory duty that lacks organic enthusiasm. Maybe it’s the venue, maybe it’s the number of times they’ve played the songs, maybe it’s the late start – certainly other reports we’ve had of their live shows suggest a little more spontaneity.

This slight niggle aside, it’s still an excellent show. Musically, it’s almost perfect – assisted by a set up that brings out the nuances of key instruments at the right moments. Above all, BBC are about great songs and this shines through live. The strength of the band’s first two EPs – ‘The Boy I Used To Be’ and ‘How We Are’ – is reflected in the set list, most of which is familiar territory, but the thrill of their recorded material is carried over onto the live stage.

Great things must surely lie ahead.

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