NME Tour @ Brixton Academy 20/02/2010
This weekend saw the final performance in the annual NME tour. As always, the weekly music mag pulled out all the stops to ensure they delivered a wealth of sonic delights. The headline slot this year was filled by South London indie outfit The Maccabees, still enjoying the rapturous response given to their second album ‘Wall Of Arms’. Also on the bill were Bombay Bicycle Club, The Big Pink and The Drums.
Despite having the opening slot, The Drums attracted a respectable audience for their set. The much hyped New Yorkers tore through their set, with lead singer Jonathan Pierce proving himself to be the epitome of hip shaking frontman. While the biggest cheers came for the singles ‘Let’s Go Surfing’ and ‘I Felt Stupid’, the band also showcased several promising new tracks. After appearing in our ‘Shazam Sound Of 2010’ poll, it appears things are going according to plan for this lot.
After the jaunty indie-pop of The Drums it was time for things to get slightly darker with the arrival of The Big Pink. Since the release of their debut, ‘A Brief History Of Love’, the band have been touring solidly with support slots for the likes of Muse and Pixies. Taking to the stage to a cacophony of feedback and drones they launched into ‘Too Young To Love’. The biggest cheer of their set came predictably for closing track ‘Dominos’ – no doubt partly caused by the tracks appearance in a certain games console advert.
For a band so young – they only left full time education in 2008 – Bombay Bicycle Club have quickly developed the confidence of seasoned performers. Tracks such as ‘Evening Morning’, led by the distinctive rasp of lead singer Jack Steadman, were lapped up by the now at capacity Brixton crowd.
The Maccabees set was littered with stand out tracks from their back catalogue. ‘One Hand Holding’, ‘Can You Give It’ and older tracks such as ‘First Love’ all inspired bursts of chorus singing from the crowd. While the usual end of tour stage invasion occurred during ‘Love You Better’, the highlight of the set was seeing former Orange Juice frontman Edwyn Collins join the band for a rendition of classic single ‘Rip It Up’.
