Friday 23 October 2015

Everything Everything (Beacons Metro), Canal Mills, Leeds, October 17th 2015 (LIVE REVIEW)


We’re chock-a-block at Canal Mills for what is actually my first visit to the (not surprisingly) canalside red-brick venue for a bit of avant-garde post-industrial indie. The Beacons Metro gig fest is now in full swing and tonight the headline act, ‘Everything Everything’ has packed fans in from all over the region. Hopefully the same has been/will be true for the rest of the 40-odd live music events curated by the organisers, making the new era Beacons an unqualified success. 

Beforehand, it’s the turn of local quartet Vitamin followed by moody Mancunian electro-popsters Bernard and Edith to nicely whip the expectant revellers into shape.

Soon enough the falsetto voiced and elegantly coiffured Jonathan Higgs accompanied by his three colour co-ordinated cohorts get things underway with his trademark vocal on the eerie introduction on ‘To The Blade’ before the rest of the band explode into life, filling the room with a wall of light and sound.  

The skittish ‘Kemosabe’ comes next followed by the sun-drenched pop of new album title track ‘Get To Heaven’, leading into the taut 60’s throwback track ‘Regret’ as the band seem to change colour with the lights; at one point it looks like we’ve three Incredible Hulks fronting the band! .    

‘Don’t Try’ continues to keep things moving nicely as we’re then treated to full audience participation for the chorus of the belting ‘Spring Summer Winter Dread’ followed by the super angular debut album track ‘Schoolin’ as we head into a darker part of the set with the haunting ‘No Reptiles’.

The main set is rounded off with ‘Photoshop Handsome’, ‘Cough Cough’ and arguably the highlight from new release the ever brilliant ‘Distant Past’ as we all go for it big time. 

The oriental tinged ‘Radiant’ and ‘MY KZ UR BF’ complete a brief denouement before everyone heads off breathlessly into the night.       

Plenty more where that came from, see for yourself.




Words - Mike Price



Everything Everything official

Beacons Metro official