Kodaline, Live at the O2 Academy Bristol
12 March 2015
The night kicked off with a fabulous performance by White Chalk. The band’s set up consisted of seven members playing a wide variety of instruments including a cello—something I really was not expecting. The band do not hold back in showing that they are there to have a good time on stage and are full of energy throughout. Connor Quinn, the singer of the band has an outstanding voice that resonates flawlessly throughout the venue throughout their set.
After a lengthy set up, London based The Mispers take to stage with set up that included the four members of the band plus a violin. It is evident in their musical style that the band takes influences from all sorts of genres such as folk and hip hop to create their very own unique sound. Their set flows smoothly throughout and frontman James Balfour Scott, continuously makes efforts to engage the crowd. Although their musical style is sonically upbeat, the band slow things down for what Balfour Scott described as a “romantic turn”. Nonetheless, the crowd is still pleased by their performance and even whip out their phone lights to sway in the air to set the atmosphere. Their excellent stage presence suggests that they are a band to watch in 2015.
By the time Kodaline take the stage the o2 Academy is completely rammed with screaming fans who had eagerly waited for them to begin. This was a significantly bigger show than the one the band had played the last time they headline Bristol two years ago at Thekla. The stage set up was superb with glass poles set up in places on the stage with LED lights running through them. The set up alongside the expansive crowd made it feel as though the show was at an arena as opposed to the o2 Academy.
The band launch into their set with marvellous performance of ‘Ready’ but it was a shame to see that the crowd was a bit too tame, in comparison to when the band first entered the stage. For the second song in their set, the singer pulls out a harmonica and the band played ‘Love Like This’—a clear crowd favorite. Frontman, Steve Garrigan showcases his multiple musical expertise by taking to the piano when the band play ‘High Hopes’.
Garrigan, spends some of his stage time talking about what some of their songs were written about. His story regarding the meaning behind their song titled “The One” remains one of the most touching from the night. He expresses that although the band often write about personal experiences, the song had been written for their friend Phil who had worked on their records. He
was getting married and the band did not have a present for the wedding and instead wrote the song and played it at the wedding for him. Garrigan expresses that although Phil is now divorced, to the band it will always be ‘Phil and Fiona’s song’. This was met with a united ‘aww’ from the audience. After performing ‘Love Will Set You Free’ the band exit the stage and the crowd roar for an encore. The band once again took the stage playing some of their best loved songs, ‘Honest’ from the new album, a medley of “Big Bad World, Talk, Perfect World”. The show was topped off with the band inviting Quinn out to sing on ‘All I Want’.
Despite having their new album Coming Up For Air only released recently, the band do not overload their set with new material. The set is almost an equal spilt between old and new, which the fans could not complain about. The band had a solid setlist of favorites and were able to play a good number of their tracks that had infectious melodies that were all worthy of being singles for radio play.
