Live Review

The Pigeon Detectives – O2 Shepherds Bush Empire, London

• 13th Apr 2011

The O2 Shepherds Bush Empire looks filled to capacity tonight, and there is a surprisingly level of excitement about The Pigeon Detectives visit to London; although they’ve fallen off the mainstream radar a bit in recent months, clearly their fanbase has remained loyal, because the Empire is positively buzzing with anticipation.

Before the main event, however, there is the small matter of support band The Heartbreaks to get through. They seem like the perfect band to support The Pigeon Detectives, playing a very similar vein of indie rock without ever seeming likely to upstage the headliners. There is nothing wrong with their set, but equally there is nothing that stands out from it either. The Heartbreaks are just… Nice. They dress nicely, they play nice songs and they get a nice reaction from the audience. Minor tuning issues aside, the only real downside to their set is ending with a brief cover of “Think We’re Alone Now”, which puts their own songs into perspective; although they seem catchy, everyone leaves their set with Girls Aloud, rather than The Heartbreaks, running through their minds.

The Pigeon Detectives, however, are nowhere near as bland as their support band, or indeed as many holier-than-thou music journalists would have you think. Although most of the band could be accused of not moving enough, singer Matt Bowman is a flurry of energy, channelling the spirits of every great frontman from history to make his every move captivating; by the end of their first song, he has morphed from Jagger to Mercury via Bowie, and doesn’t slow down at any point in the set. In fact, most of The Pigeon Detectives success tonight is down to their charismatic vocalist, and the rapport he finds with the audience.

Accompanied by a Spartan, but effective, backdrop of lightbulbs, without him The Pigeon Detectives live show would be completely out of sorts with their music, as the rest of the band seem to prefer gentle swaying and shoegazing to the energetic movement their songs deserve. Without Bowman, it would be a tight, professional but boring show; with him, every single person in the room feels like one of The Pigeon Detectives, and moves with him accordingly. The crowd response to each song is phenomenal, with brand new material received just as enthusiastically as the best of their back catalogue.

At the start of this evening, Shepherds Bush Empire was a pleasant-smelling sea of immaculately quaffed hairstyles, tasteful military jackets and pretty dresses. As the final bars of “I’m Not Sorry” fade from the speakers, the venue has transformed into a mess of sweat, ripped clothes and exhausted faces; The Pigeon Detectives have turned a crowd of fashionable indie fans into filthy rockers, and that really tells you all you need to know about them. On record, The Pigeon Detectives are a good indie band with a lot going for them; live, they reveal themselves to be in possession of one of the best frontmen around today, and as a result, they’re absolutely captivating.