Royal Blood - Newport Centre - March 3 2015 (Live Review)
Wednesday, 04 March 2015
Written by Laura Johnson
Royal Blood, if you weren’t already aware, are currently on a completely sold out UK tour. Like, sold-out-to-the-rafters sold out. So, it’s no surprise that the queue outside the Newport Centre snakes around the full circumference of the building. And, it’s a queue that contains a motley crew of fans, who show just how diverse the duo’s pull is.
Kicking things off for the evening are LA’s Mini Mansions, an impressive trio featuring Queens of the Stone Age bassist Michael Shuman, who shares frontman duties with keyboard player Tyler Parford and switches between drums and guitar to accompany bassist Zach Dawes.
During a dynamic set, Shuman’s vocals deliver the grit that tonight’s audience craves. But, the more subtle, sophisticated electro elements, driven by Parford, are lost on this Royal Blood-hungry crowd.
After a brief interlude, the lights cut out and the PA blasts Pharoahe Monch’s Simon Says. Royal Blood walk on to rapturous applause and in an unexpected, yet well received, twist they open with Hole, the b-side to their Little Monster single.
The pair attack things with determined ferocity, accompanied by an elaborate light show. They blast through You Can Be So Cruel and Figure It Out, but the set is by no means just a run down of the pair’s sole album.
They revive further b-sides in You Want Me and One Trick Pony and bash out a beautifully scuzzy cover of T.Rex’s 20th Century Boy. The crowd are already near climax when Royal Blood amp things up further with Ten Tonne Skeleton, which sends the pit into complete chaos. Fans circle and scream while Michael Kerr struts about the stage, delivering ear blasting riff after ear blasting riff. Ben Fletcher, meanwhile, coaxes them to get even more stuck in.
They bring the show to a close with a magnificently elongated rendition of Out Of The Black and, once the last chord is struck, walk the stage in a gesture of thanks. The crowd is spent. They got what they came for.
Royal Blood Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows:
Thu March 05 2015 - NORWICH Norwich Nick Rayns LCR UEA
Fri March 06 2015 - BLACKPOOL Empress Ballroom
Sun March 08 2015 - BELFAST Ulster Hall Belfast
Mon March 09 2015 - DUBLIN Olympia
Tue March 10 2015 - DUBLIN Olympia
Wed March 11 2015 - WOLVERHAMPTON Wolverhampton Civic Hall
Fri March 13 2015 - LONDON O2 Academy Brixton
Sat March 14 2015 - NOTTINGHAM Rock City
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