Live

Glasvegas, Friendly Fires, White Lies, Florence and The Machine

Pete Swan 14/02/2009

NME's 2009 Shockwave tour came to Cardiff's student union on Valentines Day with the first band starting within a half hour of Wales' defeat of England in the Six Nations rugby; this event, which brought with it a large police presence and a diminished level of general sobriety to the city, clearly created a high energy atmosphere from the beginning of the gig in a rare display of, what is generally considered to be, the limited compatibility of live music and sport.

First to the stage was Florence and The Machine who worked through plenty of material which was a product of their debut album which is set to be released later this year. With a dominant stage presence somewhere between Marla Singer and Janis Joplin, Florence Welsh provided the vocals and front 'man' presence for the music which was both dark and tender, whilst always maintaining a powerful drumming support score in the background. As an artist discovered singing Motown covers whilst drunk in a London nightclub toilet, Welsh seemed to emphatically deny these roots in her stage character, performing alongside an onstage harp so large it looked like it had been stolen from a fairly tale, and communicating charismatically with the crowd about depth of content in her lyrics.

Following was White Lies who played a set which used an ambient indie mould as base and then worked in an out of a pastiche of different styles and sounds. Making a sound heavy on rhythm guitar, they had a dark style which still left room for guitar riffs with a decidedly 80s edge. Their stage presence was tight and confident which went far beyond what can be identified by their recorded singles.

Up next were Friendly Fires who bought with them a style which was both electro and indie. Funky and fast paced the band played energetically and poured energy into the crowd, which by this point in the night had long filled the venue to its 1000 person capacity.

The final act of the night and headliners Glasvegas, who have almost single handedly bought the 'shoegazing' indie style into this century, made good use of long held chords and echoing vocals to play with the impassioned alternative rock style they're well known for. The band played their two better known tracks Go, Square, Go and Daddy's gone against a sea of luminous camera-phone displays in the hands of the many enthusiastic members of the crowd.

As the crowd dispersed at the end of the night, rather than having the final notes of the last band ringing in their ears against the background of the comparatively quiet streets, people walked into the post-match Cardiff streets tapping into the atmosphere of high spirits and bonhomie for more refreshments on the journey home.










NME's 2009 Shockwave tour came to Cardiff's student union on Valentines Day with the first band starting within a half hour of Wales' defeat of England in the Six Nations rugby; this event, which brought with it a large police presence and a diminished level of general sobriety to the city, clearly created a high energy atmosphere from the beginning of the gig in a rare display of, what is generally considered to be, the limited compatibility of live music and sport.

First to the stage was Florence and The Machine who worked through plenty of material which was clearly a product of their debut album which is set to be released later this year. With a dominant stage presence somewhere between Marla Singer and Janis Joplin, Florence Welsh provided the vocals and front 'man' presence for the music which was both dark and tender, whilst always maintaining a powerful drumming support score in the background. As an artist discovered whilst singing mo town covers whilst drunk in a London nightclub toilet, Welsh seemed to emphatically deny these root in stage character, by performing alongside an onstage harp so large it looked like it had been stolen from a fairly tale, and communicating charismatically with the crowd about depth of content in her lyrics.

Following was White Lies who played a set which used an ambient indie mould as base and then worked in an out of a pastiche of different styles and sounds. The band was heavy on rhythm guitar and had also had a dark style which still left room for guitar riffs with a decidedly 80s edge. Their stage presence was tight and confident which went far beyond what can be identified by their recorded singles.

Up next were Friendly Fires who bought with them a style which was both electro and indie. Funky and fast paced the band played energetically and poured energy into the crowd, which by this point in the night had long filled the venue to its 1000 person capacity.

The final act of the night and headliners Glasvegas, who have almost single handedly bought the 'shoegazing' indie style into this century, made good use of long held chords and echoing vocals to play with the impassioned alternative rock style they're well known for. The band played their two known tracks Go, Square, Go and Daddy's gone against a sea of luminous camera-phone displays in the hands of the many enthusiastic members of the crowd.

As the crowd dispersed at the end of the night, rather than having the final notes of the last band ringing in their ears against the background of the comparatively quiet streets, people walked into the post-match Cardiff streets tapping into the atmosphere of high spirits and bonhomie for more refreshments or the journey home.