The Answering Machine - Bull & Gate, Kentish Town - 25/03/11 (Live Review)
Wednesday, 30 March 2011
Written by James Conlon
For those that haven’t yet stepped into the Bull & Gate in London’s Kentish Town, the venue is a relative haven for music fans, holding up a torch for local venues by hosting top quality acts almost every night of the week. The Club Fandango gig nights are an equally impressive institution, and over the last ten years the organisers havebrought future stadium-fillers to their intimate venues, picking up on early vibes from the likes of Bloc Party, Arctic Monkeys, Kaiser Chiefs and Guillemots, to name a few.
So naturally, when venturing out to see indie darlings The Answering Machine I was excited: not just for the headliners themselves but equally to see what the hand-picked support bands would offer.
Opening act The Kill Van Kulls failed to disappoint, getting the ball rolling with a short but powerful set which fused soaring Kings of Leon guitar lines against domineering synth strokes. The band were tight on stage, tempting the tentative crowd forward with exciting basslines and an impressive vocal range. Lyrically, the band might be considered a little too Disney for certain pallets, but as the group introduced each song with enough self-conceived gravitas to put The Vaccines to shame, it is clear that they are aiming high. It would be hard to claim that they are ready at present to take the leap into the majors, but with tracks such as the emotive 80s-inspired ‘Fools Wish’ tucked safely under their belts, The Kill Van Kulls are definitely a band to keep your eye on.
Next up were the slightly more established electro-rockers Safari, who impressed from the very first guitar strokes. The band seemed genuinely enthused to be playing, moving the crowd with their danceable brand of hyper-cool electro from the off. Pitching arresting vocals against summertime guitar tones, it doesn’t take a giant leap of imagination to picture the band satiating sun-soaked punters in the fields of Reading or Worthy Farm – a fate which will no doubt come their way soon enough.
And so on to headliners The Answering Machine. The Mancunian four-piece had recruited a fifth for this surprisingly intimate performance, and as the group took to the stage the place seemed to suddenly jump to life, with fans emerging from the cracks of the small venue for this rare London performance. After a relatively muted start, the band jumped into life with ‘Oh, Christina’, a track from their debut LP ‘Another City, Another Sorry’. The set was a welcome change of pace to the night, as the band abandoned the crystal-cool exteriors which had held back the other acts, embracing every note of their set with an exciting amount of gusto.
The Answering Machine have been playing together since they first emerged on the outskirts of the Manchester music scene almost six years ago, but the band were still fresh, performing every note as if they had just stepped on stage for the first time. Pitting tracks from their new album ‘Lifeline’ against older material, the group gave renditions of ‘3 miles’ and recent fan-favourite ‘Animals’ before stunning the crowd with a double header of cult classics ‘Lightbulbs’ and ‘Emergency’. Singer Martin Colclough clearly hadn’t tired of the material which launched the band into the public eye, roaring out the lyrics passionately as he took a small trip to join the crowd on ground level.
With two completed albums and an impressive touring history behind them, it would be difficult to say that The Answering Machine have taken the British music scene by storm. However, if live renditions of ‘Video 8’ and album title track ‘Lifeline’ are anything to go by, it is clear to see that their hard work is finally paying off. ‘Lifeline’ is an entirely different entity to ‘Another City, Another Sorry’, which sees the band evolve out of the lively guitar-rock mould, finding their legs with more sparse and diverse tracks. That However, whille the crowd was as enthralled by the new tracks as the old, it was 2009 single ‘Obviously Cold’ which finally set them off, as several members of the audience jumped on stage to join the band for a dynamic rendition of the track.
The Answering Machine are a band who clearly perform for the love of the music, buzzing off every interaction that they have with the crowd before, during and after their set. The band have just returned from the SXSW festival and have received some serious praise from critics with their latest release ‘Lifeline’, so I for one am glad to have caught them before ticket sales deem ‘up close and personal’ venues like the Bull & Gate too small for their infectious, dance-friendly guitar rock.
Stereoboard gig rating: 8/10.
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