Photo: WENN.com
Last night saw yet another phenomenal concert from the annual summer sessions at Somerset House, with a magical performance from Australian four piece Temper Trap. The night was home to an electric atmosphere, engulfing the arts and culture centre in the heart of London, leaving the audience on a colossal high.
Support act and another remarkable band, Alt-J warmed the crowd up with their beautifully haunting vocals. Their stunning tracks created a chilled out atmosphere in the evening light, concluding their set with the enchanting waltz ‘Matilda’. The guys truely suceeded in warming the crowd for a night of amazing music.
Although the night didn’t revolve around the weather it inevitably has to be mentioned. With the heavens opening as soon as the headline act hit the stage, umbrellas went up, causing a few visual issues but didn’t dampen the mood in the slightest. The rain in fact helped create a magical optical effect, as it caught the strobes surrounding the stage. Mesmerising the audience as the amazing falsetto vocals trilled out of lead singer Dougy Mandagi, addressing the audience on the cobbled courtyard of the house, producing fantastic juxtaposition, as old met new, indie-pop framed in magnificence.
The faultless performance began with Mandagi opening up to the crowd with ‘Hello all you sexy faces’, continuing on to play their summer hit ‘Fader’, a great distraction from the weather, insuring the crowd that the nights set would definitely not disappoint and the audiences excitement bounced off the walls.
As the set continued, the band performed many tracks across their back catalogue and their self-titled second album, including the favourites ‘Love Lost’ and ‘Rabbit Hole’, which had everyone in the crowd dancing, singing and grinning from ear to ear. As the rain trickled down, Mandagi incorporated this into the performance, pouring water onto the skin of a drum and thrashing it violently; recreating the effect of the rain on the strobes. A glitter-like hypnotic display, which was accompanied by fantastic riffs and instrumentals, breaking up the concert.
The atmosphere in the crowd was incredibly uplifting, every one felt ecstatic, yet no one got carried away. For as far as the eye could see, infectious smiles were everywhere as the set concluded. After a few minutes of suspense, the band trickled back on stage for their encore. Despite the few technical issues with Mandagi’s microphone in the first track, the problems were resolved and with a roar from the crowd the band played their smash hit ‘Sweet Disposition’, which unquestionably left everyone elevated.
The evening was a great success, coupled with the spectacular scenery and the poignant indie pop melodies bellowing across the courtyard, ultimately creating an unforgettable, magical night.
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