Venue: The Ground Theatre @ *SCAPE, Singapore
Date: 29th July 2014
Promoter: Symmetry Entertainment
Review by: Nadiah H.
Special Thanks: Aaron, and the Symmetry Entertainment team
Certain artists rise and disappear out in seconds with one hit wonders. That’s not the case however for Bombay Bicycle Club, who seem like they’ve been around a lifetime – which they have, actually. 10 years is a pretty long time to survive in the “indie” music scene. The band has evolved through their albums from being slightly mellow to now incorporating influences from dance electronica. Lead vocals, Steadman, mentioned that his travels to India heavily influenced the songwriting for “Feel” off their latest album So Long, See You Tomorrow as we can see from its Bollywood-themed music video.
Returning to *SCAPE with a sold out show, BBC pleasured their fans in ways unimaginable (in the most non-vulgar way). Personally, I am completely against the idea of opening acts and well, it was my lucky day. Casually taking the stage, welcomed with loud screams from the audience, the sextet opened with “Overdone”. Man, were we blown away. There are many unique voices; not to name-drop Ezra Koenig and Adam Levine, but Jack Steadman’s vocals enters a completely different league of its own. Saying that it was lullaby to my ears might be a wee bit corny but it was a goddamn effin’ lullaby sprinkled with unicorn dust. By “Shuffle”, I was completely won over by pure charisma.
Singaporean gig-goers have a niche for singing along to every single thing, thankfully accepted by the band, remarking that we were the only audience who sang along to “Feel’s” rhythms, loudly I might add. My personal favourite moment was during “How Can You Swallow So Much Sleep” off the album A Different Kind Of Fix. The lazy sound of Steadman’s vocals paired with the amazing lighting equaled this being one of the highlights of the night. Moving on to piano and a falsetto for “Eyes Off You”, Steadman paired voices with the lovely Liz Lawrence and remained there for “Whenever, Wherever”, which he cheekily dedicated to Shakira.
Ending the night on an expected encore, the band pounded out with “What If” and “Carry Me”, seemingly determined to put an exclamation point to close the show. The bold lighting faded out as the band left the stage and everyone sucked in appreciation for how amazing Bombay Bicycle Club sounded live. Definitely not the kind of band to watch live only once.