On Wild Beasts' website they have the lead singers, Hayden Thorpe and Tom Fleming, down as playing the instruments of falsetto and tenor respectively. No kidding, and tonight style-wise they are polar opposites too, with Thorpe sporting a long, immensely gelled do and Fleming with a shaven head. Their voices, a combination of castratee and Ian Curtis impersonator, however, mix beautifully with jangly pop from the instruments. Heavier than they are on CD, the pounding rhythm section carries their effervescent melodies into the small but lively venue.
Their dark lyrics juxtapose with the light and dreamy music, which creates an eerie atmosphere to dance to. I only knew a few of their songs, unfortunately, but their performance was very impressive so I will definitely be purchasing their album.
The band were clearly very into it, their playing was tight and exuded passion. They shared an anecdote about a gig they did with Lethal Bizzle (of all people) saying how they were intimidated by him and his team as they where on edge, as it was only the day after the smoking ban. Hilarious and unbelievable.
Lone Wolf was the first support act, who are in fact a six-piece, yet the lead singer played a solo gig in a almost too ironic to mention twist. His was quite quiet and bland acoustic guitar set except for a nice electric organ song and a surprisingly good electric guitar closer, which built from calm reverby introduction into a noisy climax.
Second support act Erland & the Carnival where nothing more than landfill indie, the only redeeming features being the good drummer, liberal use of keyboards and the odd incongruous segment of noise. The lead singer was a douche but he did produce a childish bat-and-ball instrument and a very strange hand-held electric instrument during two of the songs' breakdowns.
Wild Beasts // We Still Got the Taste Dancin' on our Tongues:
Links:
myspace.com/wildbeasts
myspace.com/carnival
myspace.com/thisislonewolf
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