Florence + The Machine at the LG Arena, Birmingham
First support band, Spector,
opens Florence + The Machine’s tour swimmingly well with familiar singles ‘What
You Wanted’, ‘Chevy Thunder’ and ‘Never Fade Away’. Handsome, front man’s, Fred
Macpherson’s witty banter, teamed with the band’s professional enthusiasm,
demonstrates their effort to entertain and satisfy. The full audience
participation establishes the bands great stage presence and already impressive
fan base, asserting that they undeniably ones to watch out.
Draped in a demonic, black cape,
barefooted Florence Welch takes to her very simple stage set and steadily
approaches her mic. Her striking presence adds to the already gripping
atmosphere- as if a curse was about to strike the venue, casting each individual
under a spell that would have them helplessly magnetized under Welch’s control.
And then it begins. Eruptions of
mighty vocals are prodigiously belted out of the singer’s tiny frame, as
opening song ‘Only If for a Night’ surmounts the venue. Hair raising goose
bumps and spine tingling sensations are swept across the entire arena and
sustained into following song, ‘What The Water Gave Me’.
The radiant, red-head finally
greets her beloved fans with a gracious smile and a very shy ‘hello’. As she
embraces the rapturous reception, her confidence is eventually boosted and the
swallowing cape is abandoned in order to do what she does best..
Spinning, swirling and galloping
across every inch of the stage, eyes are latched onto her dainty physic as she
loses herself in the music like a drugged ballerina.
The crowd jump, sing and cheer
to classic favorites, ‘Cosmic Love’, ‘Rabbit Heart’ and ‘Dog
Days’- until the tempo slows down for successful, acoustic
performances; ‘Heartlines’ and ‘Leave
My Body’. Tribal drumming and rich, harp rifting, ‘No Light, No
Light’ ends the gig without a glitch, leaving fans dumbstruck and totally blown
away, reminding us all just how beautiful and magically moving music can be.
