The NME tour again excited many people of all ages with the prospect of another 4 new talents from 2011, showing off their music to dedicated fans at 13 different venues. The tour featured four artists all incredibly contrasting from each other, with the fast, flowing beats of Azealia Banks to the heavy anthems and echoing riffs of Tribes, there was something for everyone at this years tour.
I managed to get tickets for the tour from someone I knew less than 10 hours before the gig, and so i went along to Nottingham's Rock City on valentines day. First up (after an incredibly fast moving que considering the gig had sold out weeks before) was American rapper and queen of insults, Azealia Banks. As the venue was filling up her relatively short set got the atmosphere going and soon enough the floor was jam packed with the upstairs balcony relatively tight for room as well. After 6 songs not many people knew all too well but were all happy to be the crowd for, Banks closed up her set with '212', a great tune which really got the crowd going and lit up the sea of bodies with the flashing lights and the club filling echoes of her controversial lyrics being screamed out from most mouths at Rock City in Azealia's final song of the night.
Next up was Camden four-piece Tribes, introduced to us by Banks very kindly after the '212' crowd had calmed down slightly. Their recently gained fame came at a great time for the tour after their recent release of 'Baby', and this was definitely reflected in the crowd. Playing their hits like 'Sappho', 'Coming Of Age' and 'We Were Children', the London band played a brilliant set worthy of a more experienced and a lot more popular band, which Tribes could so easily become in the next few years. The instrument heavy sound and memorable riffs rang throughout the ears of the fans shouting and singing the words to the catchy tunes, and it certainly was not a disappointment to anyone inside Rock City that night.
3rd in line were electronic band Metronomy, who gave a completely different buzz to the previous act. Main man Joe Mount and co took to the stage wearing light up/flashing badges, which lit up the stage along with the strobes, making it look fantastic against the dark backdrop of the venue. With all four members dancing around the stage whilst playing their incredibly catchy, synthesized instumentals with Mount singing, playing his guitar and tapping away at his keyboard in rapid succession and as close to simultaneously as humanly possible. Playing tracks from their critically acclaimed LPs, the Devon-formed talents blasted out hits such as 'The Bay', 'Radio Ladio' and 'The Look', filling the club from wall to wall with incredible sound like not many bands can produce, and certainly not in the way they do. Metronomy for me were the highlight of the night, as I'm sure they did for many people in the many venues they played in over the two week period of the tour.
The last act to take part in the gig were Two Door Cinema Club, an indie pop band from Northern Ireland who were the headliners of the tour. Out of the four, TDCC are probably the most popular, however not the longest running act on the tour. It was clear even before the moment they stepped on to the stage that they were the reason most people went to the gig, with the pre-set moshing even with no music playing throughout the crowd. When they did come on, they received a rapturous reception from the crowd, which carried on for the whole set. This included mostly songs from their debut and so far only album 'Tourist History', a relatively well-reviewed record from early 2010. Other than that they played a few new tracks from their forthcoming 2nd album, and previewed the new songs like 'This Is Moon' and 'Costume Party', along with their hits 'I Can Talk', 'What You Know' and 'Something Good Can Work'. They played their songs very well, and comfortably too with lead singer Alex Trimble playing throw and catch with one of his guitars with someone across the stage. However, I couldn't help but to feel their songs seem slightly repetitive, and at this point I stopped enjoying myself, despite an attempt at encouragement from my friends!
Overall it was an enjoyable night, as I'm sure the other 12 nights were for thousands of people. Again the NME Tour has been a great success, promoting new bands to people who might not have come across them until later years, which obviously is one of the aims of the tour. Again NME chose very good acts, all of which look to have very bright futures.
TLH
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