The Joy Formidable & We Are Animal // Waterfront, 23.01.2013
Muse without the wankiness supported by a(nother) tribute to the Beta Band.
Has there been ever been a band that achieved such little success but has had suchan influence as the Beta Band? Following Django Django, the Phantom Band andothers, come We Are Animal. Perhaps hamstrung by a recent change in personnel,this was not a great performance but WAA’s take on freakfolk-psyche-indie-krautrockpromises much for the future. I’ll be keeping an ear out for ‘em.
The Joy Formidable are a more direct proposition. I keep thinking “Muse without thewankiness” but don’t think that is fair to either Muse of TJF. The drumming ofMatt Thomas is straight from the Lars Ulrich/Nicko McBrain “hit it hard andmake it loud” school of metal. The guitar of Ritzy Bryan and bass of RhydianDafydd lean towards altrock/grunge but neither are afraid of metal, whilstRitzy’s vocals owe a debt to Deborah Harry and Cherry Vanilla.
An intense, full on performance. I have one complaint: TJF may be a bit onedimensional live. A few more changes in tempo wouldn’t go amiss. The acousticballad certainly gave some relief. The rest of the audience seemed to have hadno such reservations and the moshpit gave it their all for the whole performance.
Pavlis 7/10
