Hitsville U.K.

"I want this to be an orgy of love and violence!"
NME Awards Tour 2009
Glasvegas, Friendly Fires, White Lies, Florence & The Machine @ Liverpool Uni

So said Florence Welch before playing (arguably) her biggest hit "Kiss With A Fist" to the baying crowd, full of checked shirts (including myself), tight jeans and Florence-a-likes, on the opening night of this year's NME tour. I wouldn't say it was an orgy, and there wasn't much violence, but in the words of Shakespeare/Hamlet "forty thousand brothers could not quantify" the love given to the acts on stage.

Florence was her usual kooky self, chucking flowers, crowdsurfing and finally running off past the front barrier, never to be seen again...at least for the remainder of the gig. The covers which have become a staple of her gigs were replaced by tracks from the upcoming album, which sounds as if it will be more on the "Dog Days Are Over" side of things instead of "Kiss With A Fist". Certainly one to look forward to in the next few months.

Recent chart-toppers White Lies were delayed in Berlin, thus delaying the entire gig by almost an hour, but it was certainly worth it. Striding triumphantly on stage, wearing a very flash pair of Nikes (obviously souvenirs from a trip to Liverpool One), Harry McVeigh and the rest of the band ensured that, whilst an air of gloom fell over the venue, it was one that had every word sung back, even when the lyrics concern electric shock therapy and kidnappings gone wrong. An epic gig if there ever was one.

A definite change of pace came with the arrival of Friendly Fires. A shoegaze/dance band from St Albans may not seem like a likely proposition, but it's real and it has the power to make even the most awkward indie kid (e.g. moi) want to flail about like a lunatic. Ed MacFarlane is a extremely energetic frontman, like a mix between Mick Jagger and Jarvis Cocker with a sprinkling of Morrissey. He can but can't dance if that makes much sense. Their set kept on building towards a climactic "Jump In The Pool", complete with extended samba ending. If you want a party in the near future to be a success with everyone dancing, just stick their album on and watch everyone start to boogie.

And thus we arrive at Glasvegas, one of the biggest hype bands of the last few years and boy, do they deserve it. Walking on to a darkened stage covered in dry ice will make you cool, even if you're Scouting For Girls or N-Dubz...well maybe not them but you get the picture. James Allan has got to be a long lost relative of Joe Strummer somehow, dressed all in black with sunglasses and a perfect quiff, effortlessly cool. The band's usual wall of sound was amplified to the max with the mountain of speakers at either side of the stage (resulting in me being a bit deaf in my right ear at the moment) and the songs were twice as epic as White Lies before them. The set was peppered with hits and slightly lesser known tracks (such as "Fuck You, It's Over" and S.A.D Light, preformed magically with just James, Rab and their two guitars). But the real highlights came from an improvised cover of Echo & The Bunnymen's "The Killing Moon" (with Ian McCulloch in the crowd), a spellbinding version of "Ice Cream Van", during which I'm pretty sure the heavens opened and "Go Square Go", which is bound to be a terrace anthem in a year or so.

All in all, it was the best gig I've ever seen. You won't hear a bad word from me about any of the bands and they all surpassed their high standards, which are pretty damn high. Roll on next year's tour, and may it be just as amazing as this year.

CREDIT TO kavita41 FOR THE PHOTOS.