Wild Beasts + East India Youth
O2 Academy, Bristol | 30 March
Amongst most discerning lists of this year’s best albums so far, you’ll find both East India Youth’s Total Strife Forever and Wild Beasts’ Present Tense. With the Kendal foursome’s stunningly poignant, sophisticated latest effort drifting into more electronic-leaning experimentation, inviting rising auteur William Doyle to open their tour is an inspired choice.
So forget for a second, if you can, the mastery of Wild Beasts live and let’s give this bold opening act his due credit. As Bristol’s O2 Academy slowly fills, East India Youth gets off to a shaky start with what will become the first of a handful of unfortunate sound issues. Those issues cast aside, sorted, Doyle set about showcasing the fact he is so much more than a laptop musician, bringing Total Strife Forever’s startling sonic variety to life. Livening things up with pulsating, manic bass solos and subtle changes to mesmerising album tracks, Doyle turns one man, a laptop, some knob twiddling and a bass into a hypnotic live show.
Once Doyle’s Hinterland finishes shaking the O2 to its foundations, the main attraction are ready to delight the eagerly awaiting crowd. Enter sound issue number two. After two attempts at Mecca resulting in synth issues, Wild Beasts have no option but to apologetically leave the stage to resolve matters. Curiously, this warms the crowd up quite nicely, building anticipation and a connection with the band who handle the situation well. As a result, once everything is finally ready to go, Mecca takes on a whole new life.
The next challenge faced by a post-Present Tense Wild Beasts is to blend what is a complete transformation in sound into a cohesive set; this is, of course, done perfectly. Flowing effortlessly from the simple, tropical sounds of Reach a Bit Further and The Devils Crayon into the deep, emotional complexity of tracks from Present Tense, Wild Beasts construct a stunning display of their progression as a band without detracting from the quality of their earlier work. This transition is beautifully enhanced by impressive lighting; flowing from the blacks and whites of early Wild Beasts to the vivid complex colours of Present Tense, a spectrum which juxtaposes its much darker sound to create a powerful mood.
Capping things off with an epic four-part encore of both old and new, Wild Beasts look set to wipe all memory of earlier issues with a near perfect set. Unfortunately, the night ends on a slightly sour note as the long build towards climax with End Come To Soon culminates in a heartbreakingly painful screech of feedback, instantly dispelling the anticipation so masterfully created. This is not to detract from Wild Beasts as a band, but simply an unfortunate end to a brilliant show.
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Words: Henry Boon
Photos: Martin @ Allyourprey
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