by Patrick Davies | Photos by WENN

Tags: Little Comets

Little Comets @ Koko, Camden, 01/11/2012

'This final show of the tour is perhaps the band's biggest party yet'

 

Little Comets @ Koko, Camden, 01/11/2012

Photo: WENN

Little Comets are a band who initially built up a name for themselves in their native Newcastle by playing impromptu live sets on the city's Metro transport network in the late 00s.

Things have escalated a bit since then. After support from Radio 1 DJs Zane Lowe and Huw Stephens, they released their debut album 'In Search of Elusive Little Comets' in 2009 - to mass acclaim.

Last month a second LP 'Life is Elsewhere' followed and Little Comets celebrated the release by embarking on their biggest UK tour to date last night in London.

The finale of the tour is a measure of just how far they've come as they make the trip down South to play a packed out show at Camden's Koko.

Support is provided by Northern Irish four-piece, General Fiasco. Their simple yet effective indie has a particularly youthful audience excited - 2010 single 'Ever so Shy' proves to be a particular crowd pleaser.

Little Comets come on to a rapturous reception. 'Bridge Burn' is a slightly low-profile opener, but there is a feeling in the venue that much more is yet to come.

Koko is a curious venue to behold. The theatre's balconies go up three stories meaning those at the top have almost birds-eye view of the band.

Frontman Robert Coles apologetically says: "We're not used to playing venues that go up this high so sorry if it looks like we're only playing to the people on the floor.


Little Comets at Wakestock 2012

The band then introduce recent hit 'A Little Opus', the track's quirky guitar intro gets toes tapping, and it quickly becomes clear Little Comets needn't have any worries about leaving those at the top of the venue wanting.

Then about five songs in the teenage audience tightly packed into the venue's floor erupt. There's a sense that this final leg of the tour is perhaps the biggest party of the lot.

The songs come thick and fast. "I hope we're not going too fast for you, but we're trying pack in as much as we can"- Coles reassures.

'Adultery' and 2011 single 'Joanna' get a frenzied reaction. One or two of the less-represented older members of the audience even look slightly concerned for the safety of the hysterical teens below- not that they're bothered.

Koko continues to bounce with excitement as recent hit 'Jennifer', and 'Worry' are predictably well-received.

The chatty frontman then tells the crowd: "We don't really write encores into the set, it always seems a bit fake." Instead Little Comets decline to leave the stage and use the remaining time to shoehorn as many more songs into the set as the can before the 10.45 curfew.

An intriguing prop that is suspended from either side of the stage during the last few songs is a washing line. On it hangs a tambourine and slightly more strangely, a kitchen pan.

The show comes to a hectic crescendo with perhaps the band's most well-known track 'Dancing Song'.

Final track from the new album 'In Blue Music We Trust' is a subdued end to the set, slightly out of keeping with the atmosphere of the gig as a whole.

The function of the prop comes apparent as Little Comets leave the stage. Coles strikes a deafening chord before hanging his guitar on the line. The result is a mish-mash of guitar and percussion that continues to ring out as the crowd begin to filter out of the venue.

Some may say Little Comets brand of jangly indie lacks bite - but try telling that to the electrified army of followers that have come out to see them tonight.

Little Comets play an impromptu set on Newcastle's 'Metro' service in 2008.

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