![]() There’s no messing around here – it’s everything you’ve come to expect from the duo, and everything you already know they’re good at. How Did We Get So Dark? has a lovely slinking guitar part behind its verse and great AM-era Arctic Monkeys backing vocals, and leads into the huge chorus and mosh pit-ready breakdowns of lead single Lights Out. With the exception of an added keyboard on penultimate track Hole In Your Heart, Royal Blood are still just drums, vocals, and a bass hooked up to enough effects pedals to give Matt Bellamy a raging hard-on. So why then – and here’s the second teasing question – does this sophomore release feel just a little bit underwhelming?īecause make no mistake, there is very little change on this album. After their self-titled debut topped the album charts and scooped a Mercury Prize nomination, it seems like it would be hard to argue with assessment too. Another massive highlight of the year so far.Here’s a teasing question for you – when you have a formula as simple as Royal Blood, how do you keep it fresh without ruining your whole sound? This is the dilemma that the Brighton duo came up against when writing their second album How Did We Get So Dark?, and it seems like they came up with a very simple answer – don’t do anything at all. I loved it and so did the thousands and thousands of people in front of the stage, between Royal Blood and the huge crowd they damn well nearly ripped a hole in the arena. Royal Blood are a rock, yes their new stuff has an underlying disco groove, but they rock in the truest sense of the word, Punchy rock songs with stadium-sized choruses and if I didn’t know it before I know now why Royal Blood are the biggest British rock band around. was just amazing, and it didn’t stop as they rolled out “Boilermaker” and “Lights Out” Royal Blood just rock, the ferocious and blistering drum tribute to to the late great Foo Fighter’s drummer Taylor Hawkins was something else, brilliantly sad. Now it was time for the main event Brighton’s mighty world-conquering two-piece indie rockers Royal Blood, this gig had been postponed twice and the crowd were ready for the night, amped to the max, and from the minute the band took to the stage and hit the first chords of “Typhoons” they were going off, singing at the tops of their accumulative voices. There was an awesome balance between heavy and dark, light and shade, The whole performance was a standout. ![]() The tone was now set and this Indie rock ‘love nest’ of huge choruses, ear melting guitar riffs and the appreciative audience were as one. Could they deliver? Would they deliver? Simply put, deliver they did…and some! Incredible! In My Mind” started it all off and with the soaring vocals of Matt Thomson and belting guitars in full flight, the crowd were instantly and wantonly bouncing. A huge, nearly sold-out arena had high expectations mixed with palpable excitement that was contagious. So, the band had a lot to live up to, supporting the amazing Royal Blood. Having been lauded by Radio 1, The Independent, NME and Greg James everything seemed to have gone a bit quiet, but here they were new music and a new haircut for frontman Mathew Thompson. The first band of the evening and the only support are those boys from Reading ‘ The Amazons’ and they were a perfect aperitif to the main course. The AO Arena looked full, but not as full as I thought it would, maybe a gig getting cancelled twice and then having to be moved to a school night has put a few people off, oh well there lost. Heading down to Manchester and the AO Arena on a Monday night to cover Royal Blood, seemed odd, not covered many bands on a Monday, to be honest, it is a school night after all, but here we were in rainy Manchester for an evening of Indie Rock, I guess if I had to go out on a Monday night….and I do, this is the show to see. ‘Punchy Rock Songs With Stadium-Sized Choruses’
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