The -at least- 22 legged 'machine' takes it's component positions in this mock-Victorian stage set up, framed with a theatre curtain, backdropped by an abstract of plant life composed of colours varying in luminescence relative to the light that falls upon it and dotted with birdcages containing light bulbs.
It's difficult to see amongst the low light and the, 'stage-fog' (which doesn't really act like dry ice and that admittedly unnerves me somewhat) but the string sextuplet are seated in a box of plexiglass, which Florence Welch will later dub, "the fish tank". When the rumble of guitarist Robert Ackroyd's pickup tremolo, drummer Chris Hayden's washing cymbals and Isabella Summers' ethereal pads warm the stage for Welch to appear as a siren would in an Poe poem. She bears resemblance to a Poe because as she daintily prances to her microphone and begins to sing 'Howl' from her award winning, debut 'Lungs' (pun entirely intentional), in a pure white dress you could be forgiven that she was a sweet, butter-wouldn't-melt college girl from London.
Then she starts physically abusing a floor tom with all the hatred in Christendom to the accents, pounding through her sonic landscapes like a creature from beyond. True sirens never actually did anything, they just lured you to the rocks. Florence and the Machine would lure you to the rocks with the enticing spectral performance and then either scare you to death and beat your head in. Whichever is the most entertaining for her in the moment.
The only thing is that her voice is terribly low throughout the first verse, however that is rectified before the first string laden chorus. I can't help but feel that the soundscape is just too grandiose for the Corn Exchange. The size of the venue being detrimental the vastness of her ambition. Most of the frequencies get lost in the mix from time to time, often only hearing a glissando of harp here, a piano blip there. For instance, the string arpeggios in the chorus are entirely swamped and only at the peaks of the phrase can you make out it's movement. However Florence and the Machine appear to be utterly flawless. She is given the stage on the proverbial platter and handles it like a child with an old toy. Confident in displaying her vocal mastery of the blues scale throughout the dark surf of 'Girl With One Eye', and also her dark as hell psyche with it's vengeance tainted climax.
Mixing disappears as an issue entirely once the percussion of 'Drumming Song' relentlessly rolls behind her lovelorn lyrics. The backdrop rails off into the back being replaced by a curtain of lights for 'Cosmic Love', and I can't help but feel that I've heard this one before, despite the grandeur of her performance, the arrangements and her innate playfulness, I'm left cold. Each song is a sibling with striking resemblance to the last, the music through much of the set stays in the same emotional place for the most part. Melancholy is not typified by her performance, moreover, the way she twirls and floats along the stage after her diminutive form is revealed by her removing her heels would be visually suggestive of something in a major key, a device that feels wholly underused for the duration.
The highlight of the set for me is the epic, and brand spankin' new, "nearly seven minute song", that Welch asks us to, "bear with us", through, called 'Strangeness And Charm'. A title that perfectly describes the flame haired pixie before you. She is an eloquent and frankly charming speaker with a gift for connecting to the audience without requiring to change the facing facet of her personality. You can't help but feel that there is an inherent darkness lurking behind her eyes. Yet, very few artists are given fan made, 'I ♥ Florence (or insert band name)' T-shirts. The girl is probably not playing the Corn Exchange again after this summer.
'Got The Love' is no doubt the highlight for many in attendance, which feels extremely short after the long string and vocal intro. Yet, it is 'Dog Days Are Over' which really puts her over in a huge culmination to the set proper, the crowd joining in the gospel clapping to a rapturous fever. The unashamedly formulaic rocker, 'Kiss With A Fist' is a welcome change to the mood, providing a more 'traditional' rock soundscape with my much needed tonality shift, in the encore before 'Rabbit Heart' brings the classic 'Flo-mac' back to a sing along, bounce-fest and we're all over in just over an hour and a quarter.
If I were to be honest I would say that there is a level of artistry in Welch's work that is both flippant and self-discursive, which could be explained by her neurological disorders, however it does not speak to me. I appreciate her craft, but am not thrilled by the material as a whole. I love the conceptual aspect of her set design, capturing her ever moving mind in a cage, if for only just a fleeting moment, is a beautiful statement for the infatuated initiated, but to the curmudgeons amongst us (like me) can seem a little contrived. With that by the wayside, if you have enjoyed 'Lungs' and the 'A Lot Of Love, A Lot Of Blood' EP, then you very much ought to see this huge performance in the flesh during the festival season. You certainly won't regret it.
article by: Ross Gilchrist
photos by: Louise Henderson
published: 10/05/2010 18:24
FUTURE GIGS
sorry, we currently have no gigs listed for this act.