Live Review: Metronomy, Circa Waves - Astor Theatre

There was only the one band supporting Metronomy for their first Splendour sideshow in the country, and Liverpool’s Circa Waves did all they could to impress punters and keep themselves warm.

Their bulletproof indie-pop/rock stylings had plenty of twang and flavour, and the audience’s energy and response to the music seemed to grow as time went on. While each song was tight and composed, it was noticeable that after about six or seven songs they all started to sound quite same-same; it’d be good to see the band experiment with some different sounds and speeds to keep everyone on their toes. Having said that, the quartet definitely had their highlights; Stuck In My Teeth and Get Away had huge choruses and worked wonders in lifting the crowd intensity. All up it was a very enjoyable performance by the lads and we’ll certainly welcome them back with open arms next time around.

Metronomy made their presence clear not long after to a roar of approval from a now-packed venue. Opening track Holiday had the audience immediately swooning over Joseph Mount’s smooth vocals and Gbenga Adelekan’s twangy bass lines.

As was the standard for the evening, the lightshow accompanying the music added extra personality to each track, and phone cameras were out all over the place simply trying to capture some of the beauty of the scene. Every band member assisted in vocal duties, and for songs like I’m Aquarius, everyone aside from Mount got together to simply provide the “doo-doo-ah” harmonies while he took charge of the beat and lead vocals. Each Metronomy track sounded fresh and unique in its delivery, and while some songs simply left you nodding the head and tapping your foot to the beat of the drums, others, like Reservoir, had people bouncing all over the room thanks to that ridiculously catchy synth work.

While all their songs produced favourable responses from the audience, when the band finally got around the playing The Bay, the crowd erupted; the dance fest lived up to all expectations and prompted the group to come out for a two-track encore. The applause at the end certainly indicated how highly impressed everyone was by the show, and we can only hope it brings the band back to our shores again sometime in the near future.