Live Review
Levi Ones To Watch – Bombay Bicycle Club – Glasgow Barfly
In now what seems to be a pretty consistent run of form for the organisers of Levi’s Ones To Watch, tonight Glasgow’s Barfly played host to the popular organizers’ latest set of would be stars.
This evening its Teenage foursome Bombay Bicycle Club that are the ones we’ve all came to watch and we do so with a hint of expectation – brought fourth by the kind words of praise already heaped upon their young shoulders by the music press.
By the time he fresh-faced Bicycle Club slinked onstage it’s was past ten (c’mon guys some of us have work in the morning) however things got down to business fairly quickly.
Immediately one is struck by the behaviour of frontman Jack Steadman and for the first few songs, one wonders whether his occasional mumbling, erratic facial expressions and very poor ‘dancing’ is that of a lad trying to show just how ‘nuts’ he really is; or is it just that he ‘s just got the nights leave from the local mental asylum. In fact it’s neither, turns out he’s having a good time.
Musically, the band themselves seemed to wander from all types of alternative music’s genres throughout their likeable set, playing as they did in a style reminiscent of Sonic Youth one minute and on to Arcade Fire the next. The band played with an energy and enthusiasm echoed by a group like The Fratellis when they first broke onto the scene; but perhaps most importantly, Bombay Bicycle Club seemed like they had the right attitude, along with a collection of impressive songs on which to build on. It may have been the lager, but this lot seemed genuine.
Whatever your thoughts on the bands overall sound (taking into consideration that they are all still in their teens) you immediately have to applaud the apparent musical influences which are clearly on show – not to mention the remarkable confidence which oozed from the bands ginger bassist. Who would have thought?
As well as the issue of the lead singers’ apparent insanity, elsewhere, for much of the gig I was left trying to pinpoint who his voice sounded like the most. Was it Caleb Followill? Was it Zack Condon, frontman of the magnificent Beirut?
Nope, it was actually arch-relationship miserablist Conor Oberst, or as noted by my lucky guestlist +1, “…the guy from Bright Eyes as if he’s just had a few pints and cheered up”. And that’s pretty much the best way to describe said vocalist. Bright Eyes after a healthy dinner of pints and Prozac, and what’s not to like about that.
He and his band played with a charm and array of at times catchy and instrumental songs seldom seen these days. And hey, what’s not to like about that?