Bastille took us to the future on Friday night in a visual spectacular on a grand scale.

After witnessing the stripped down, laid back album launch sow in Bristol a month or so ago, we were keen to experience the full shebang Bastille show and were certainly not disappointed.

Opening the night were Plymouth five piece The Native, indie rockers with an easy style and slick performance, they got the crowd going from the start. Lead singer Charlie’s vocals delivered the anthemic tracks that got the crowd moving and this should be a big summer for these guys. Check out their latest single ‘Blindside’ HERE 

Next up was Dylan, and I’ll be honest, I wasn’t sure what to expect with a drummer, a guitarist and Dylan on vocals but from the start this high energy set was quite the surprise. The rock influenced, poppy tracks with some nifty dance moves got the crowd bouncing and even with a sore throat, Dylan managed to  belt out the tracks with real passion. Dylan has already been getting airtime on BBC Radio 1 and with a lots of social media exposure, a new EP and planned tour of the USA and back home in the UK later in the year, things are looking exciting for her. 

With all of the bad press artists get, it’s worth mentioning that Dylan stopped her show just as it was rocking to check on an audience member who was clearly in trouble, the security team managed to get them over the barrier to safety, allowing the show to carry on. Check out Dylan’s latest ‘EP’ HERE 

Then it was time for Bastille. As they set the stage up, the scale of what  was to come was starting to materialise, it was HUGE. From the start, the spectacular choreographed stage show, dictated by the monstrous screen at the back, burst into life with the robotic voiceover introducing ‘The Future’. Dan started right at the back, silhouetted by the giant screen as he broke into ‘Stay Awake’ from the new, No 1 album ‘Give me the future’.  As he made it to the front, he reclined on the psychiatrists bed as the voiceover kicked in again.

And then he was up and off again, non stop motion as he bounced around the stage. The show was high energy and futuristic as they rattled through tracks both old and new. The crowd jumped up and down and sang every word as Bastille tore through the set. The production had a whole ‘Brave New World’ feel to it with a nod to the last 2018 U2 tour with the massive screen and feeling of a narrative running through the show. My only negative was that, unlike the album launch stripped down shows, the band were a little dislocated, split up across the big stage, and apart from some interactions with the backing singers, I felt they were a little lost in the whole production. But that’s more about a personal thing, where I like to see bands interacting and bouncing off each other during the sets. Tonight was definitely about the production.

As we saw earlier with Dylan, once alerted by the crowd to someone struggling the band were quick to bring a halt to proceedings to allow the person to get some medical attention. In light of recent bad press, it was great to see this from both acts.

And then back to the performance. Dan even managed a wander around the venue as he jumped into the crowd during ‘Happier’ and continued to sing as he went through the crowd and up onto the upper levels, before appearing back on stage for the start of the next tack.  With their single release ‘Of the night’, a mash up of Rhythm is a Dancer from back in the 90’s then their breakthrough hit ‘Pompeii’ to end the night the crowd bayed for more before they left everyone breathless with ‘Hope for the future’ and ‘Shut off the lights’ to end the show in spectacular fashion.

This really was impressive and demonstrated how Bastille could take this show to some really big venues and put on one hell of a show. The songs get stronger and stronger and Dan’s energy just sets the crowd off from the start.  The ‘Give me the Future’ album is an interesting concept and the slick production of the live show reflects the narrative. This is a real step up for Bastille that could see them launch into a massive band going forward.

The tour now jumps to the USA before coming back to Leeds, Reading, Boardmasters  and Victorious festivals in the UK before heading back out to Europe.  Go to https://www.bastillebastille.com/ to purchase tickets.

Words and Pictures (©) by Glenn Morrison (GM Gig Photos)