The Naked And Famous’ UK tour was beset with illness for band member Thom Powers, forcing the band to cancel dates in Norwich, Birmingham, and two Shepherd’s Bush shows in London. A sell-out crowd in Oxford were lucky enough to see the Kiwi band in rude health, blitzing through highlights from their two albums of indie-electro power pop, and showing that there’s way more to them than those big hit singles.
On occasion, there is a palpable sense of tension at a live show as a crowd waits for that big radio smash to be played, so they can get their phones out and wave them around to show friends that they were there. It was a negative energy that distracted the crowd at last year’s M83 live show in the same venue, as every man and his dog was waiting for those opening chords of ‘Midnight City’, and there was a fear that the same could happen with The Naked And Famous, and ‘Punching In A Dream’ / ‘Young Blood’. But credit where credit is due, both the band and audience combined to make this show a captivating experience throughout.
The Naked And Famous’ newest release, ‘In Rolling Waves’, is full of the same soaring synths and dual vocals, but it reaches meaner levels of ferocity that is magnified when played live. The show’s opener, ‘A Stillness’, is a case in point. It has a deceptively gradual opening that slowly swoons its way to an explosively rambunctious and rave-filled ending. ‘I Kill Giants’ has an aptly giant sounding chorus, and with a lighting rig shaped suspiciously like The Ministry Of Sound logo blaring out vivid flares of primary colours, it’s a big spectacle.
What was so heartening to see was the big crowd reaction to album tracks from their first record, a sure sign that it’s not a crowd after that one big four minute moment, but a knowledgeable and truly invested group of fans. ‘All Of This’ gets the crowd singing along to the bridge on the way to the jammy guitar filled conclusion, while ‘Frayed’ and ‘The Sun’ show the group capable of building a darker, more brooding atmosphere. The band remarked that it was probably the most observant Saturday night crowd they have played to, which I’m still trying to work out if it’s something Oxford should be proud of or not.
Sure enough, as inevitable as death and taxes, those two big hits from album one duly arrived. But instead of the usual release of pressure that comes at such moments, instead it was a joyous and riotous amount of fun. On ‘Punching In A Dream’, drummer Jesse Wood pounds the drums like a man trapped in a cage trying to smash his way to freedom. Thom Powers vocals scuttle low while Alisa Xayalith climbs those huge vocal peaks. ‘Young Blood’ plays the same trick and closes out what proved to be a memorable show.