Slow Club - Audio, Brighton - 29th September 2011 (Live Review)
Monday, 03 October 2011
Written by Emma Newlyn
The last time I saw Slow Club, it was on a snowy night in December 2009 at Union Chapel in Islington. The night was filled with beautiful, gentle, folky songs and mulled wine, and everything was played on acoustic guitars and the odd little piece of percussion. Tonight however, as we see Slow Club take to the stage in 2011 at Audio, the acoustic guitars have turned to electric, and they’ve added a bassist and drummer to the band. Opening up with ‘Where I’m Waking’ from their most recent album ‘Paradise’, its clear to see that this band have really matured in the last couple of years, taking control of the whole room from the first note, and looking like they’re loving every second of it.
Second song is ‘Our Most Brilliant Friends’ - a fan favourite from the debut album ‘Yeah So’, and is widely appreciated by the audience, who sing along to almost every word of every song throughout the whole night.
“Someone reviewed us and said that my voice was ‘painfully boring’ without Charles!” Rebecca Taylor tells the crowd halfway through the night – something I’m certain no one at this gig agreed with. As well as clearly developing as a performer - working the crowd instantly, and seemingly looking each and every person in the eye, she belted out her vocal parts beautifully, complimenting Charles’ deeper and quieter tones.
Switching between old and new throughout the night, we really got a sense of how the band have changed between their two albums; as they sing songs from the debut release, all harmonies and accompanied only by a very quiet guitar, the room falls silent apart from those who sing along. When they launch in to louder, more indie and pop influenced songs though – the room fills with cheers and movement, and everyone still knows the words.
This is the last tour date in the UK for Slow Club this year, and they really do go out with a bang, finishing with the brilliant ‘Two Cousins’ which sees the drums hit harder than in any other song, and the band seemingly loving playing it. Of course that isn’t the end of the set though, as the band return to the stage for their encore, they play a couple of much loved songs from their first album, including the brilliant ‘Giving Up On Love’ which is introduced by Rebecca when she says – “OK, now we’re going to play a song I don’t like”.
Perfectly choosing to end with just Charles and Rebecca on stage as they had been two years ago, Slow Club’s final song of the night is ‘Christmas TV’, one which the whole rooms sings along to – whether they already know the song or not. There is no telling which direction Slow Club will go with their next album, but with the music getting louder and the live shows more exciting, they are definitely a band to experience live while they’re still playing smaller venues!
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Second song is ‘Our Most Brilliant Friends’ - a fan favourite from the debut album ‘Yeah So’, and is widely appreciated by the audience, who sing along to almost every word of every song throughout the whole night.
