London Grammar @ Fremantle Arts Centre
w/ Mansionair
Saturday, September 16, 2017
Quaint picnic rugs and other niceties quickly made way for the hoards of fans cramming in to see uber cool UK outfit London Grammar bring their second studio album Truth Is a Beautiful Thing to life in the creativity and culture hub of Fremantle.
It was the second warm welcome to Australia this year for the UK band, but you would be very wrong in thinking this show would be anything like previous ones. They have certainly stepped up to a new level in terms of stage show, and have reduced to a more synth and loops version of themselves, sans the string section.
Mansionair were the perfect support band as they are self-professed London Grammar fan-girls. The Sydney based multi-instrumentalist trio quickly set the tone, with a heavily emotional serving of crowd favourite Easier. Cutting through his notoriously epic vocals, Jack Froggart stunned the crowd with his increasingly heated surges of almost growls as he indignantly threw himself about the stage. Having only finished their debut album 3 months ago, the crowd was treated for the first time to the latest single Astronaut. With it’s heavily electronic, almost Daft Punk inspired sound, it was certainly a change of pace for the relatively new band. If this track was anything to go by, it will be interesting to see what other shapes this band may take as they continue to progress.
London Grammar’s entrance was one of pure theatrical brilliance. Alone on a dark stage vocalist Hannah Reid’s falsetto pierced the air, cutting through the smoke and darkness with her acapella opening of Rooting For You, the epic opening track off their latest album Truth is a Beautiful Thing. As the band joined and the stage lit up, the crowd roared in appreciation and exhilaration of what was to come.
Flickers from the 2013 album If You Wait saw the beginning of an incredible light and visual show, which would continue for the rest of the set. This first transformation began with 3 large glowing circles, which slowly began to flicker as the song reached its apex.
Hell to the Liars brought an equally impressive visual – a sea of fire and smoke as once again, the incredibly talented Reid wowed with her pitch perfect, soaring vocals.
Before playing their early single Hey Now, The band attributed triple j to the song’s success, and mention of our beloved radio station brought a sense of intimacy to the large, open venue.
This newfound camaraderie saw crowd favourite Strong bring with it an inevitable, yet endearing singalong. Though London Grammar’s music can often feel heart wrenching, this song demonstrated their optimism is just as infectious.
Throughout the set, the stimulating visuals managed to bring movement where there was stillness, and were especially effective during the final song Metal & Dust. As a slideshow of all the visuals from the show flickered faster and faster across the screen, as if we were reliving each moment again all at once. An epic ending to an incredible night.
The show did seem to run a bit short, with some punters feeling a little more would have been good – but if history is anything to go by, it won’t be long before we see another evolution of London Grammar hitting our shores soon.
LIANA KELLY
Photos by Linda Dunjey Photography
