Crack

This was an unlikely show for a band so fast on the rise. Now championed by BBC 6Music, Francois & The Atlas Mountains took the time to play a hometown farewell in a pop-up arts centre before no doubt heading out on the post-NME interview circuit; all student unions and awkward radio spots.

Inside the dim, squat-chic venue, the crowd was an interesting mix. Half friends and family, half discerning musos ready to engorge the latest breakthrough act; pointy shoes, thick rimmed glasses and moustache wax were at a premium. By not taking to the stage until nearly midnight, Francois gambled on a boozy crowd, who'd been knocking back cider from warm cans since the doors opened at eight, but from the moment he flashed his first boyish grin, the crowd were all his; though men in the audience visibly held their women a little tighter such was his charm.

The band wasted no time building on this goodwill and launched early in to Les Plus Beaux, an intricate, thoughtful folk track that would not be out of place in the 'getting to know each other' montage of a Zooey Deschanel film. In fact with the hip crowd swaying boozily on cider and the orange lighting from cheap lighting cells, the smell of the bogs from upstairs were forgotten and the room almost resembled more an LA theatre set than Bristol in mid-January.

From there the band tightrope walked between shoegaze indie-plink and dance along folk; the potential pretentiousness of Francois' band chanting his name while he stared almost messianicly at the ceiling, balanced by more humane moments; synchronised dance routines, extravagant face pulls and a dance-crazed drummer downing bottles of red wine.

In short, it didn't really matter how this gig went. Francois and his Atlas Mountains (and they are, very much, his) are set, rightly, for an impressive 2012. But regardless they saw what might be their last ramshackle little gig off with, if not a bang, then a smiling, warm hearted French shuffle.


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Words: Daniel Humphry

http://www.myspace.com/francoisinbristol

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