Azealia Banks, Tribes, Two Door Cinema Club and Metronomy played to a packed out arena, with Banks opening.
Her set started at 6.30, which seems to be pathetically early, and this most definitely took its toll on the feisty New Yorker’s reception. Her punchy, lewd lyrics – a paean to the joys of cunnilingus – fell upon the ears of a sober crowd who were yet to be warmed up. Even as 212, her filthy internet hit which rapidly went viral, morphed into the Prodigy’s Firestarter, the crowd felt limp. This was a big shame seeing as Banks herself, who recently topped the annual ‘Cool List’ compiled by NME, was every bit as buoyant as she comes across in her videos. It felt as though her short, sharp set went to waste; we couldn’t help but wish that she’d played later on in the evening.
The next act was the four piece indie group, Tribes, who unfortunately had no spunk about them whatsoever. After a generic, uncharismatic set from the Camden ‘scenesters’, which sapped up the little energy there was in the arena, their frontman decided to start crowd-surfing. The clock still hadn’t struck nine…
For us, it was Metronomy that saved the night. Although they finished with their popular song ‘The Look’ their six minute tune ‘Some Unwritten’ was a favourite of the night as the crescendo was perfect to listen to live. ‘Everything Goes My Way’ was another highlight as the female drummer took to the microphone.
Two Door Cinema Club finished the evening, and although most of the crowd seemed to know all their catchy songs such as ‘Undercover Martyn’, ‘I Can Talk’ and ‘Something Good Can Work’, our hearts longed for Metronomy to grace that stage once again for a well deserved encore.