When a hyped band comes to town, the support bill tends to either be designed to make the headline band really good or the promoters go all out to make a really strong line up and a great evenings entertainment. Tonight is most definitely the latter.
Edinburgh’s Eagleowl amble sheepishly on to the stage almost apologetically, the singer and guitarist, of heavy ginger beardage, a pretty indie chick on double bass and a baby faced chap on ukelele. Together though, they make music of simple yet wondrous beauty and just when you think they are not going to exercise their vocals, they burst into harmony with each individual’s voice contributing perfectly to the song. They create a magical atmosphere with their set and it is not often you hear a request for “more ukelele in my monitor, please.” It’s not all sweetness and light though as they finish their set with the more upbeat track featuring the line “Can I call you Mother fucker?” A fantastic start to proceedings and the next band have a hard act to follow.
It would be a hard act if the next band were not the simply brilliant Y’all is Fantasy Island. Officially the best thing to come out of Falkirk since Arab Strap, they start quietly and build majestically with ‘I Bet You’re Flying Inside’ from their magnificent debut LP ‘In Faceless Towns Forever’ before their forthcoming single ‘With Handclaps’ tears the venue a new ceiling. In frontman Adam Stafford, they have a true frontman,very much in the mould of, dare I say it, Kurt Cobain, he is such a captivating presence on stage and mercifully he has an assembled cast around him who more than do him justice, the brilliant guitar work of Tommy on lead and Robbie on bass coupled with the frenetic drumming of Jonny McCall, this is indeed, a phenomenal band. ‘I’m Always Here By The Darkness’ sounds like a lost song from Nirvana’s unplugged session and last track ‘Culdra’ has been speeded up and injected with an anger that is not heard on the record. For the audience, some have witnessed this before but there are more than a few jaws still on the floor come the end of their set.
And so to the headliners, the gauntlet has been well and truly laid down for them by their local luminaries and as they take to the stage one audience member close by simply says “Toploader” in obvious reference to their frontman’s curly red bouffant hair do, thankfully this is the only comparison between The Strange Death of Liberal England and the band who so nearly provided the death of music. Having been described by Uncut as “God’s own orchestra” the inevitable Arcade Fire comparisons also having been bounded about, TSDOLE do a damn good job tonight of showing how exciting music and in particular, performing live, can be. This was their first time in Edinburgh and they played it like it was their last, it was immensely enjoyable to watch and even better that their songs’ quality matched their enthusiasm for playing them. The single ‘Oh Solitude’ has that now familiar Wedding Present style riff that loads of bands are using such as Clap Your Hands Say Yeah but just like they have carved out a sound of their own, TSDOLE seem to have done so as well. With giant hand written placards held up before each song and the constant switching around on stage between instruments, it does make you wonder how many more people would be salivating if they were American. They are from the slightly less glamorous town of Portsmouth though and although appearing to be a little shambolic on stage, there is something very regimented about them and I like the fact that they let their music do the talking because with music as good as this, there’s no need for idle chat.
photos on Flickr
