Monday 31 January 2011

Band of Horses Live @ O2 Academy Leeds


Opening with Ode to LRC, Band of Horses set out to prove that the world is, indeed, a wonderful place. And boy did they succeed. Bearded and clad in plaid shirts, they look every inch the American country rockers. They wear their influences (Crosby, Stills, Nash and particularly Neil Young) as closely as their jeans and have surfed over to the UK on a wave of multi-layered harmonies pioneered by the likes of Fleet Foxes and My Morning Jacket.

Where they differ from their predecessors is in their secret weapon – lead singer Ben Bridwell’s incredible voice. There’s a powerful clarity to his emotive vocals which imbues their songs with a richness and depth which elevates them above MOR into something quite beautiful.

Performing against a backdrop of panoramic Midwestern vistas they rarely stray far from blues inflected country because they simply don’t need to. An occasional thrash of the guitars or intricate bass outro are the sign of a band having a bloody good time, but generally their guitars slide around yearning love songs or paeans to the good old US of A. At times it’s utterly beguiling – the heartbreaking intro to Is There A Ghost being a case in point. In fact, it’s the material from Cease To Begin which is most likely to make your hair stand on end.

But that’s not to say that more recent material is weak. New number Du Jour Of The Day broods intensely and the sweeping, soaring, majestic Factory is a highlight. Sadly, an intimate duet on Evening Kitchen between Bridwell and guitarist Tyler Ramsey was spoiled somewhat by incessant chatter from the inconsiderate goons in my vicinity – it ought to have been a ‘moment’ but was instead spoiled by my desire to rip someone’s teeth out through the back of their skull.

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