They had put on two sessions at Pryzm and I'd booked for the later one, which stated a door time of 7PM.
I arrived in time, but I could see people queuing, so I did what I often do at Pryzm, popped into the Wetherspoons across the road and waited for the queue to start moving while I enjoyed a well priced, quality half.
7 came and went and there was no sign of the queue moving, but when I finished my beer, I headed over and joined a very long queue, extending past a row of reclining phone boxes, at around 7:30.
Luckily, the queue moved pretty quickly when it did and it probably took less than 15 minutes to get in.
I made my way down to the floor, but this was probably a poor decision on the day.
Two large screens displayed a new 'stage time' of 8:15 around 8:05 and the band appeared, led by a small string section and then Dan Smith and Charlie Barnes, who I recognised from the time I'd seen them live before, plus a woman on a guitar who was introduced, but whose name I've forgotten.
The '&' album is a bit of a side project for Dan (who is really Bastille), with some of the musicians on stage and is a collection of songs about people from history (real and literary - Leonard Cohen, Oscar Wilde and Adam and Eve, amongst them) who he finds interesting.
With a mostly acoustic lineup (there was an electronic keyboard and some electric guitars), the sound of the songs was both familiar and different to those I'd heard live and on albums before.
Not having heard any of the songs before (the gig comes with a CD or vinyl album for a very reasonable price, but the album isn't released until 25th and I'd not sought out any of the tracks online), I can't say how the live renditions match up to the recordings, but Dan told us that the album has a very raw sound, with scratches, breathing and the sound of chairs moving on it, so I'll expect something different.
Dan's slightly spoken vocal style was present on many of the songs, although in one he sang incredibly high and I was impressed at how he sustained the notes at that level.
As a nice bonus, we got a slow-ish rendition of classic hit, Pompeii, probably their best known track, which the audience appreciated.
I was impressed that the set ran a full hour, albeit with a fair bit of chatting between songs, as previous gigs have topped out at 45 minutes, which probably explained the late start for our session.
I enjoyed the gig and, although the songs didn't strike me as immediately memorable as tracks from earlier albums, I suspect some will be 'growers'.
I look forward, to hearing the album versions to see how closely they relate to what I heard live.
One negative, though, was that most of the set was performed sitting down and I couldn't see the performers on the low stage most of the time from my place on the floor. Luckily the two screens provided a view throughout, so I didn't just get a view of other punters.
Setlist:
Intros & Narrators
Seasons & Narcissus
Eve & Paradise Lost
Drawbridge & The Baroness
Leonard & Marianne
Pompeii
Telegraph Road 1977 & 2024
Red Wine & Wilde
Emily & Her Penthouse in the Sky
Blue Sky & the Painter
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