On Saturday 12th February 2022, Bastille arrived in Brighton to perform an intimate show in celebration of the release of their fourth studio album, Give Me The Future (out now – read our review of the album here). With support from singer/songwriter, Jacko Hopper, they wowed their crowd with a selection of both new and old songs. Here’s what we have to say about the show…
Jacko Hooper
This singer/songwriter performed with just a guitar and his voice (and at times was accompanied by a female singer by the name of Rebecca). The vocals were raw and powerful and had a folky feel to them. He had the crowd warmed up nicely however at times it felt a little awkward as he tried to “rock out” with just his guitar, which in a stripped back set, didn’t always feel right. That said, he was a good performer, solid songwriter and held the crowd’s attention well. I imagine with a full band, he’d be a really interesting watch.
Highlight: The harmonies provided when he was joined by fellow singer, Rebecca, created a nice depth to his sound.
Bastille
The band performed a short, special stripped-back set of songs, both new and old, to a select, sold-out crowd at Brighton’s Chalk. The band had just scored their third Number 1 album with the release of Give Me The Future and were clearly grateful for all their fans’ support.
Despite being a stripped-back performance, the band came accompanied by a lot of gear to create a unique sound for their set, including touring member Charlie Barnes, who used a lot of looping equipment to build the sound for each song. Lead singer and songwriter, Dan Smith, took the opportunity to interact well with the crowd between songs and came across as a very humble person.
This was something very different from their usual live performances (so I’m told), as Dan remained seated for large parts of the show, instead of jumping around the stage. Additionally, they had come up with interesting renditions of their songs and announced that they were actually going to be performing slightly different sets on each night of the tour.
One interesting part of the show was the performance of ‘Give Me The Future’, during which the band shared stories of people’s weird dreams they had been told about by fans from around the world.
Whilst parts of the set included auto-tune (as with some of their latest album), this was done for effect and to tie in with the futuristic tone of their latest record, however this didn’t detract from how wonderfully powerful and truly talented Dan’s live vocal was.
At one point, the band shared how someone had left a long and rambling negative comment about their stripped-back set from the night before, on their social media, and that they found it hilarious. They particularly liked the part where their use of auto-tune was compared to that of Cher‘s ‘Believe’ and went on to include a snippet in their performance of hit single, ‘Pompeii‘.
The show was modest and gave intimate access to the band, outside of their usual arena tours. It was a great set that had everyone singing along and provided a unique take on their usual sound. Whilst I loved every second of the show, and am grateful to have seen them in such an interesting way, I still hope to catch them on their full UK tour, later this year.
Highlights:
- The special adaptations of both their new and old songs was a wonderful thing to have witnessed.
- The energy of the performance, despite being more acoustic in nature, was captivating.
- The crowd interactions were open, honest and often heartfelt, bringing the audience closer to the band.
- The very nature of the show was unique and the fact that each night of the tour is set to be slightly different, meant you were a part of something special, just by being there.
- The intricacies of the set were well-crafted, despite the band saying they were rusty from having two years away from performing.
📸 All of the photos of Bastille are credited to Chloe Hashemi 📷
Go and give her a follow on Instagram and Twitter, and visit her website.
Setlist
Intro
Future Holds*
Happier
Power / Haunt
Warmth
Give Me The Future / Dreams
No Bad Days*
Distorted Light Beam / Good Grief
Pompeii (with a snippet of ‘Believe’ by Cher)*
Shut Off The Lights*
* These songs can be viewed in the YouTube playlist, below.
Finally, I want to say a huge thanks to Jenny Entwistle at Chuff Media for sorting out this review and to Bastille themselves for putting on an incredible set.
Enjoyed this? Check out some of our other live reviews here:
Muzik Speaks Live Reviews
Matt – Muzik Speaks
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