Band of Horses @ Brixton Academy 03/02/2011
After walking round a windy Brixton for a good while, the bar where we were meeting having been knocked down (a fact they could have mentioned on their website), it was a relief to get inside the Academy. The first band on, Goldheart Assembly sounded good but got a bit screamy, so headed to the bar to get ludicrously overpriced drinks and ludicrously overpriced yet totally worth it Salt and Vinegar Pringles. We stayed there for the second band on, Mojave 3, who have a similar Americana sound to Band of Horses and are certainly worth checking out (listening to them now, am annoyed I didn't pay them closer attention).
As the gig was rammed when Band of Horses came out, we were standing close to the back but the beauty of Brixton Academy is that the sloping floor gives everyone a good view. They started with an acapella version of Evening Kitchen from their latest album, Infinite Arms, which was a low key start but went down well with most people (one guy yelled out "get on with it" but was thankfully shouted down by the crowd). BOH proceeded to get on with it and crank out some more upbeat songs, NW Apt. and The Great Salt Lake. It's always great to see a band tour a really good album, and BOH can back the new songs up with tracks from their also good first two albums (they also threw in Mojave 3 and Pavement covers). The choice of songs was split well between these and played out over a filmed backdrop of American landscapes and the band on tour over the years. A highlight of the gig was when the spotlight passed onto keyboardist Ryan Munroe for the song he wrote, Older, he clearly appreciated the crowd and band enthusiasm.
The band were on form and were clearly enjoying themselves on a bigger stage, the crowd were liking it too but appeared to not really know any of the songs. BOH haven't had any hits really but have a few more recognisable ones that didn't get the crowd anymore excited. This was underlined when the opening bars of their best song and modern classic 'The Funeral' was played, in Oxford last year this took the roof off, here just a scattering of applause. However there was sufficient demand for an encore and the band took the stage again, closing the night with The General Specific, an upbeat sing-along for those who did know it. So get BOH's albums and go and see them live, though maybe not in London
Set-List
1. Evening Kitchen
2. NW Apt
3. The Great Salt Lake
4. Is There A Ghost?
5. Islands on the Coast
6. Laredo
7. Marry Song
8. Compliments
9. Factory
10. Cigarettes, Wedding Bands
11. Part One
12. Older
13. Bats
14. Yer Feet (Mojave 3 cover) (with Neil Halstead)
15. No One's Gonna Love You
16. Dilly
17. Summer Babe (Pavement cover)
18. Wicked Gil
19. Ode to LRC
20. The Funeral
Encore:
21. Our Swords
22. The First Song
23. The General Specific
Mike
