[Live Review] BASTILLE

Bastille - Jessica Ward 01

Metro Theatre, Sydney
Wednesday August 14, 2013 :

The Metro theatre was packed to capacity for British indie pop band Bastille. Bastille has had a meteoric rise in popularity over the three years since their formation, and as the lights went down the anticipation of the (mostly female) crowd was palpable. The excitement bubbled over as the four-piece took to the stage, with the screams of “Oh my God!” and “He’s so cute!” reverberating around the Metro Theatre.

The band’s sound perfectly complemented the energy of the crowd – big, stadium sounds after the fashion of latter-day Coldplay, with a hint of Mumford and Sons and a whole lot of synth. Floor toms were used to their greatest capacity to construct driving, foot-stomping rhythms under “whoa-oh-oh”-style choruses. The strongest part of their sound was their clear 3-and-4 part harmonies, which were so well-blended that at one point I suspected they were pre-recorded or at least pitch corrected.

The star of the show was clearly lead singer Dan Smith, who was the crowd’s favourite and the only member of the band who attempted any overt audience interaction. However, even Smith seemed a little wet behind the ears as band leader; he chatted a little to the crowd and danced around the stage, but some element of confidence and self-assuredness was lacking, although I don’t think the adoring crowd either noticed or was bothered; ample use of crowd blinders and the occasional swing of the microphone at the end of its cord sufficed for the moment.

The enthusiasm of the crowd never dimmed. Through up-tempo and slower songs alike, the audience screamed and cheered and knew EVERY word to EVERY song. All of those songs did sound somewhat the same to me: anthemic and harmonic, with driving beats and full of faux-folk “oh my dear’s”. Bastille may not have been my jive, but I had a great time being there in a room with so many adoring fans, and perhaps by their next tour, with a bit of stagecraft practise, Bastille will get to play those stadium-ready sounds in the setting for which they were crafted.

Reviewer: Frances Bulley
Photographer: Jessica Ward

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgiY5Z9jdjs