Florence And The Machine. 22nd May. Birmingham Academy 2.

The time is finally here. I have finally seen her live. Enjoy the review 🙂

 

There’s a good chance this review may turn into some kind of ramble, I apologise. I’ve just returned home and my head is all over the place. I feel my words may make no sense, but when do they!

 

Golden Silvers are an amazing live band with some beautiful lyrics. I urge you to go see them live and to purchase their album from a record shop (I’m not a fan of downloading!).

You may know Golden Silvers’ track, True Romance. It’s a top tune. Anyway, I’m standing in the crowd watching them in awe and possibly in my own little world when suddenly about 3 or 4 screaming ladies come running in. One grabs my shoulder and I move to the side to let them in. They then start dancing like nutcases, and of course I look at them and smile. However, my smile quickly turns into an “OH MY GOODNESS LOOK WHO IT IS” kind of gormless expression. So I tug at my friend’s sleeve and nudge her, telling her to look to her side. She replies with, “No it’s not.” I of course, say “IT IS!” We then realise that I have been grabbed by Florence and she is now dancing like mad in front of us to Golden Silvers. This dear reader has made me again declare, that this is the best gig that I have ever been to!

 

After just under two years of waiting to see her, the time has finally arrived. The stage is decorated in a vintage fashion and she takes to the stage with her band. I must say now, the harp that is on the stage is just astounding. I wish I could play it. Anyway, she stands in front of the mic and blesses us all with her fantastic voice. She claims that she is losing her voice, but it’s on perfect form. There is no faulting it. Tracks from her debut album, Lungs are also played and they give the indication that this WILL be the album of the year.

 

Fan favourites such as Girl With 1 Eye, Hurricane and Dog Days Are Over (cue stage dive!) are played. The track that just made this evening a rarity was Florence inviting a group of kids on stage to sing Kiss With A Fist with her. How many bands do that now? Hardly any. In fact, how many bands rush into the crowd whilst the support act is on and dance to them? Hardly any.

Florence is, as clichéd as it sounds, a star. She has the best voice in the UK and we should be ridiculously proud of her because she is so talented. Just watching her perform tonight, you can easily see that she loves what she is doing. She may not play massive venues, and you know what- that’s fine because you can truly appreciate her talent (and the bands’) in a smaller venue. Oh, and because she stage dives too!

 

The set is ended with a cover of Candi Staton’s You Got The Love. I was hoping that she would end the set with this, and she did. There are no words.

I may be totally biased here, but crowds in the Midlands are the best. Everyone left with a massive smile on their faces tonight, and they also experience something truly remarkable.

6 thoughts on “Florence And The Machine. 22nd May. Birmingham Academy 2.

  1. Hey. I went to see her the same night as you and was also blown away by how great a night and performance in general it was. They guy in front of me got up on the stage and i tried but was trapped under the mass of bodies behind me. I didn’t realise Florence was in the crowd for Golden Silvers though! Was that who kept shouting at them and they kept smiling over? haha. Brilliant night though.

  2. Dom, yeah it was her lol.
    I was just standing watching Golden Silvers, and about 3 or 4 girls came running past and started spazzing out. Was awesome!x

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