Temples // Norwich Arts Centre - 04.10.13

As if there was any doubt to begin with, The Merrylees established the evening firmly in the throwback category, sufficiently whetting the collective appetite of the day tripping, paisley clad, big haired audience. Bucking the general trend and actually adding in a middle man, The Merrylees sounded like a tribute to The Coral, who were a nod to the whole sixties pastiche thing in their own right. Nevertheless, the Scots played lively, jivey tunes, replete with rich harmonies, frantic slide guitar, plenty of rhythmic riffing, and a very welcome blaring trumpet.

As much as The Merrylees looked the part, Temples fitted their pigeonhole in resplendent fashion too. Frontman James Bagshaw in particular displayed a fair amount of sartorial aplomb - his bouffant ‘do’ sitting bouncily atop his fitted velvet jacket was all very Marc Bolan, and all very apt. With the T-Rex link made, the temptation to describe the gig as a car crash is deliciously controversial, but Temples were better than that, in fact I’d go so far to say they were true children of the revolution. All puns aside, the influences were so thickly spread that at times it was difficult to know where the band started and the homage stopped. Not that that was necessarily a bad thing, just that the real soul of Temples, if there is one, was masquerading as something else all evening. Rather oddly though, despite convincing aesthetics courtesy of the aforementioned attire and a large screen projecting old film footage of volcanoes/Egyptians/the occult behind them, Temples’ on stage presence was a bit of a damp squib. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, as are rose tinted glasses, and the combination of the two amounts to the common perception that the sixties was a halcyon age for the whole cultural gamut. And yes, it did of course spawn countless icons of the 20th Century and beyond, but not every gig was going to be like Woodstock. And that’s kind of how Temples’ show ended up feeling – they got the atmosphere bang on, but ultimately the execution wasn’t quite electric enough. Partly down to the order and the weakness of some of their songs, parts of Temples set ended up being a bit too ‘vibey’, with too many meandering instrumental sections and not enough direct hits. That said, the woozy ‘Colours To Life’ shimmered beautifully, and ‘Sun Structures’ exotic lead riff complemented the on-screen Cleopatra perfectly. It was of course the closing double A-side of ‘Keep In The Dark’ and ‘Shelter Song’ that brought the most sustained energy to the stage though; the latter’s infectious 12-string hook transporting the crowd through an Alice-sized door to meet Jefferson Airplane’s White Rabbit. Overall, Temples’ efforts in painting the future from the palette of the past proved successful, just not entirely sublime, yet.