Florence + The Machine / The Horrors / Spector

I had actually planned to go and see The Civil Wars tonight but was let down rather badly, no names mentioned, so I formulated a back-up plan, decided I'd rather like to go and see Flo and her Machine.

I set the wheels in motion and the rest is history. I must admit only to seeing Flo once before at Hop farm festival, which seems like eons ago and my honest opinion was I wasn't actually impressed, not really an artist that ignited my fire to buy an album or listen to any track.

I wanted to be surprised by tonight's performance after reading all the hype about the live shows and the current album 'Ceremonials', surely the press would have their finger on the pulse and several Twitter buddies had said they had been to the show in Nottingham and it was amazing.

We arrived at the arena in plenty of time, because I wanted to try and catch The Horrors. Staff at this venue are always pleasant and will do anything to help, only problem was no one told us we were standing in the standing area queue, so 15 minutes wasted, join another queue and finally get in the arena. Queue after Queue after Queue, thank Christ I was desperate for the loo. We walked what seemed an ungodly way to our seats; we were sitting stage left with the most amazing view ever, totally wicked seats. Tonight's show was standing on the arena floor and seating all around the sides.



Tickets for tonight's show were £30, I did debate whether Flo was actually worth the ticket price?!?, T-shirts were £25/£30 respectively and a programme was £15, I couldn't get over the prices, BUT if you're a die-hard fan you'll pay it, we all do don't we?!

Support tonight was from Spector and The Horrors. I don't think either band complemented Florence + The Machine, they didn't seem to go, if you know what I mean, seemed a complete mis-match. Only caught the last couple of songs of Spectors set, not my cuppa tea at all. As for The Horrors, I was quite looking forward to seeing them, however they seemed a bit samey and the vocals were quite weak, we were having trouble hearing up in the seats (and no I'm not deaf).



The arena was packed to the rafters, the audience were waiting with baited breath for Flo and her wonderful machine, were they gonna be disappointed?

The stage set was ordinary, but very Flo-esque, a couple of video screens, the band (including backing singers), no fancy stuff, just the unique voice that we all know.

9.15 came and Flo came on stage donned in a black cape tinged in gold, with a cat suit to match, barefoot as usual.

The audience went absolutely mental, I was quite shocked how many young girls there were in the crowd, I even heard shouts of "Flo, we Love You", "Flo, Will You Have My baby?", I even noticed a few little home-made signs with 'Flo, We Love You' on them.

We were treated to a 90 minute extravaganza which totally blew my socks off. After listening to the albums this week they seriously do not do Flo any justice at all if this evening's show is anything to go by. 90 minutes of pure unadulterated pleasure, the whole experience made me happy, totally.



First few songs of the set were greeted with open ears and joyous applause, this women can't do anything wrong; 'Only If For A Night' was the opener and by god has she got a voice, for a little tot she hasn't half got a set of lungs on her (As my Dad would say lol), I did doubt her vocal capability but tonight shed all doubts I had, any cobwebs I had had been blown in to total oblivion.

Tonight was all about new album 'Ceremonials' and by god Flo gave it us right in-between the eyes 'What The Water Gave Me' was absolutely amazing, followed up by 'Cosmic Love'.

The next vocal gem was 'Between Two Lungs', followed up by one of my favourites of the night 'Shake It Out', the drums on this track were out of this world, I just wanted to run downstairs and join in with all the jumping on the arena floor, maybe next time. Flo favourite 'Dog Days Are Over' was up next, boy oh boy, camera phones were out and the hands were up, I was fascinated by the audience and how they reacted to Flo, they totally loved her in every way.

'Breaking Down', then the amazing 'Drumming Song', quickly followed up by luscious 'Heartlines', with again an incredible drum section. 'Leave My Body', this lead to some banter with Flo and her pianist who had been ill.

Tonight I was absolutely blown away by Flo's vocal prowess and songs of the night for me were 'Rabbit Heart (Raise it up)', it was sensational and 'You've Got The Love' (The Source), I did do some crazy dancing but it didn/t go down well as we had grannies sitting by us, I did laugh though.

I wasn't really looking forward to this gig especially after having seen Flo a few years back and I wasn't impressed, to say the least, BUT tonight I was pleasantly surprised and I and a proverbial kick in the you know where from Flo, she is totally amazing and her vocals were superb, I am a fan, both myself and my other half had the albums on in our respective cars this morning, I even woke up with a Flo tune in my head. "Run fast for your Mother, Run fast for your father!"

Go see this woman now, she is totally amazing and will blow your socks off and everything else come to that.

PS: She was definitely worth the ticket price, maybe a little bit more, all said and done.

FUTURE GIGS

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