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Churches have long been losing their appeal to younger audiences; the stiff wooden pews are usually a back breaking endurance test for bored parishioners, many of whom still manage to catch up on some sleep despite the hostile conditions, only to be woken by the warbling singing of a reluctant hymnal choir, reading words from a sheet with blank expressionless faces. Tonight’s service is a little different. For once a spare pew is hard to find as a rapturous congregation clap and sing along, possessed only by enthusiasm. The reason there is not a spare seat inside St Philip’s Church this evening is that this sermon is to be given by North London’s Bombay Bicycle Club.
The group, comprising of Jack Steadman, Ed Nash, Suren de Saram, and Jamie MacColl, won Channel 4’s Road To V festival competition in 2006 while aged only 16 and still to leave school, securing an opening slot at the festival. Following the release of two EP’s and the attainment of some A-Levels, they decided to go full time with the band and released their first single, 'Evening/Morning', in August 2008.
What then followed was a 23 date tour seeing the band return to V festival as well as T In The Park and the second Underage Festival. Later that year the debut album, 'I Had The Blues But Shook Them Loose', was recorded and then released in the summer of 2009 to a highly positive response considering the saturated indie climate.
Now the four are showing that they are anything other than a generic indie band by touring their acoustic album, 'Flaws', which was released earlier this month. While some acts throw some barre chords together and get high on their own self importance, tonight it is the banjo and mandolin which are passed frivolously between members rather than a cheeky joint, making them seem like an incredibly professional and adept ensemble.
As the band ditch electric in favour of acoustic in a reverse Bob Dylan move fans seem to be reacting extremely positively. “ I think we’re getting some new fans who thought that we were just another standard indie band and who have now started to realise that we’ve got more up our sleeves,” explains front man Jack Steadman. The album was never actually intended to be as such, beginning as a contribution to a compilation CD for their record label. “I don’t think we knew what it was going to be until we finished it. We quickly got it done and the label just released it to keep us happy, thinking that it would never really do anything. Considering it was just recorded in a bedroom it doesn’t affect them too much to put it out. Now it’s got to number four and done even better than our very expensive album did.”
'Flaws' seems well suited to ecclesiastical venues, converting the few lay people left into believers. Hymn sheets are provided for those less familiar with the material, leading to a respectful yet energetic response. “Churches are ideal for this kind of music,” explains Ed Nash, the groups bass and now also Mandolin player. “You can sit down, listen to it and appreciate it more, there’s no need to be jumping around or anything like that,” he explains. 'Evening/Morning' is the first to get the crowd going, with its faster tempo inducing echoes of appreciation. This is a hidden track on the new album while 'Dust On The Ground' also makes an appearance on the disk. Nash explains why these tracks especially made the final cut: “Evening/Morning has a more comedic feel to it. We were on the tour bus with all our instruments and worked it out as a bit of a joke and Dust On The Ground has always been a firm favourite in acoustic.” Steadman adds: “It got a great reception from the beginning. Some fans actually prefer it to the one we made on the first album. I prefer it to the electric version as well so it was an easy choice.”
Dust On The Ground is indeed a fan favourite, drawing a hefty round of applause. Although 'Flaws' was not intended as a follow up album and this tour is a little more scaled down than the next album will inevitably be, there is nothing scaled down in the performance. Entering and leaving the stage over the course of the night is a harpist, two performers on keys, and a viola, ensuring maximum usage of the venue’s excellent acoustics.
The most intimate moment comes as Lucy Rose, an earlier supporting artist, walks onto the altar providing backing vocals to a performance of title track, 'Flaws', with Steadman. Underneath a stained glass window, this introspective number reverberates and resonates deeply. Current Single 'Ivy & Gold' verges on Blue Grass territory and is much livelier than the
subtler songs it resides beside.
The biggest reaction from the crowd is saved for 'Always Like This', from the previous album and played at a much faster pace. This is a song recently played at Glastonbury with the London School Of Samba, “we had to rehearse quite a lot with them. We had to speed up the track because the Samba band are used to playing so fast that the whole song became
about 10 BPM faster,” laughs Nash. “We were surprised we could play it I was like ‘oh my god it’s so fast’,” adds Steadman.
For a group whose musical dexterity and maturity have been questioned in the past, 'Flaws' certainly provides the answers. Nash dispels media misconceptions: “We’re all 20. When we first started we were 15 and 16. I guess it was just an easy thing to write about." Steadman adds: 'I think you can be 15 and have more life experience than a 30 year old, it just
depends on what you’ve done with your life."
The group are certainly mellowing out now they’ve reached the ripe old age of 20. Tonight they drink water onstage and are apparently in for an early night’s sleep. “Yeah we’re definitely boring now and more chilled out. I have to look after my voice. I’ve been going to bed really early after every gig on this tour,” describes Steadman. There is certainly no lack of enthusiasm because of this new routine. The Manchester crowd leave knowing that they have witnessed something unique. “Our best gigs are always in Manchester. We’ve got more fans here than we have in London,” says Steadman. “We’re doing two nights here, not anywhere else,” adds Nash.
“Even when we headlined our last tour electrically we played to more people in Manchester than we did in London. The crowd is always much better here,” explains Steadman.
