NME AWARDS TOUR
O2 Academy, Bristol | February 19th
The alumnus of NME Awards Tours gone by makes for an impressive list. Acts including Cribs, Arctic Monkeys, The Horrors and an array of solid indie heroes . This year Django Django, Miles Kane, Palma Violets and Peace were the plethora sent to represent in an odd microcosm of where indie music is at.
Singles Bloodshake and California Daze are testament to Peace’s radio-friendly songwriting. The band’s slurring between-song banter seemed a little staged, but went hand-in-hand with the offhand, leather clad get-up the band have adopted. Then came Palma Violets, who outshone their contemporaries. Heavy guitar stabs paired with impeccably upbeat organ melodies made for a distinctive sound, while lead single Best Of Friends is a nigh-on flawless modern pop rock song that oozes scuzzy effortlessness.
Bafflingly, “MILES, MILES, MILES” was the loudest chant of the night, but the Merseyside soloist seemed to be doing a constant impression of others in order to fill a void for the plastic cup throwers of 2013. While Palma Violets’ unruly bassist Chilli Jesson gave his all to a half-failed stage dive, Kane’s offers of high-5s and shouting “’ave it!” seemed a little less rock ‘n’ roll, a little more cringe.
Finally, Django Django returned to the O2 having supported Hot Chip here at the back end of 2012. The quartet brought their blend of tribal sounds and airtight synths to an evening that was in need of a proper dancefloor filler. This was tight, clean and unchained, full of a superhuman energy embodied by frontman Vincent Neff. In a year when their reputation has bloomed, this headline performance defiantly proved why.
Florence and the Machine once played Peace’s slot, just like Arctic Monkeys once took Palma Violets’ place. That said, Mumm-Ra opened up in 2007, so it’s nigh on impossible to predict the respective futures of there relative upstarts. Tonight we were presented with two bands with a real chance, and one band with a decent chance. And Miles Kane.
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Words: Duncan Harrison
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