When you release a follow-up album to your debut that receives as great reviews as Ritual has, then there must be some pressure to sustain and transfer this glory in the live performance. However, if White Lies were feeling the strain at all this evening, it certainly didn’t show.
Striding confidently onto the stage and launching into old favourite ‘A Place To Hide’, lead singer Harry McVeigh ecstatically punches the air and thrusts us into the awaiting set via his recognisably deep and yearning vocals. There’s nothing like a satisfying crowd sing-along to kick off an evening, and the trio absorb this early enthusiasm before moving immediately onto new material. Searing riff-driven ‘Holy Ghost’ showcases the electro influences that are considerably more apparent on the second album than their anguished debut, and the faster-pace to these newer songs helped lift the overall tone of the night. Even ‘To Lose My Life’ seems to have been ramped up to these boys’ new-found energy levels as it skips along a beat quicker than usual, before a stunning rendition of ‘Strangers’ solidifies the band’s move into synth territory. ‘Farewell to the Fairground’ and ‘Death’ both receive a rapturous reception and with the thunderous clapping and chanting, the atmosphere in the room is undeniably and thrillingly electric. By the time they return for the encore and round up with latest single ‘Bigger Than Us’, it’s not entirely clear who is more jubilant about the way the evening has unfolded; the audience or a beaming McVeigh and his cohorts.
Yes, the band have adopted hints of the currently ubiquitous electro trend, but instead of letting it overpower their original sound, they have simply woven it in amongst the myriad of instrumental layers they already possessed in order to enhance it. Adding further merit to their already scintillating performance is the astute lyrical content, enhanced by McVeigh’s ever-steady and pitch-perfect live vocals. If tonight is any indication, it certainly won’t be long until the days whereby White Lies grace venues of this modest size are but a distant memory.
This review was originally published on www.culturedeluxe.com
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