Concert review: Battles, HMV Institute, Birmingham
The near capacity crowd who braved the thunder and rain to see New York band Battles in Birmingham last night, were treated to a live performance every bit as cinematic and powerful as the forces of nature at war in the sky.
Battles
HMV Institute, Birmingham
Concert review by Chris Davies
There was no introduction, no lead singer and a selection of songs that blended into one - without any discernable verse or chorus.
Instead, the near capacity crowd who braved the thunder and rain to see New York band Battles in Birmingham last night, were treated to a live performance every bit as cinematic and powerful as the forces of nature at war in the sky.
With frontman Tyondai Braxton having left almost a year ago while in the middle of recording new album Gloss Drop, it was always going to be fascinating to see how the band, formed in 2002, would progress live.
But, with guest vocalists Matias Aguayo on new single, Ice Cream, Kazu Makino and a certain Gary Numan on album highlight My Machines, displayed on large screens behind the band, the trio, of Ian Williams, John Stanier and Dave Konopka, proved that yet another musical boundary can be broken.
So, no frontman required here, although shattering stereotypes is what Battles do best. Their music, a heady confection of experimental, progressive rock that, at times, references everything from 60s psychedelia through to The Who circa We Don't Get Fooled Again while taking in jazz, electronica and contemporary composers such as Steve Reich, will never win them the headline slot at Glastonbury.
It will, however, see these rock mathematicians take their place in alternative pop culture as a force to be reckoned with for the future.
