Photo: Shirlaine Forrest
Clean Bandit may have the record sales to warrant them worthy of taking on venues as big as Ally Pally, but not the performance. The group haven’t quite got to grips with working a crowd of this size - and as a result they churn out tune after tune without any real intimacy or camaraderie.
Singer Elisabeth Troy makes one attempt to get the crowd to sing-along, but that falls flat and eventually even she says ‘mehhhh,’ gives up and gets on with it. This lack of interaction probably wouldn't have really mattered if the set list was chock-a-block with showstoppers but a lot more needed to be done to keep the audience hooked throughout all of their more mellow electronic-classical hybrids.
Unfortunately about half of their 90 minute set serves as little more than background noise, the crowd lose focus and those who can’t handle their drink start dropping like flies. Things pick up a lot more towards the end when Clean Bandit whip out their punchier numbers like 'Dust Clears', 'Come Over' and 'Extraordinary'. This injects some much needed fluidity into the audience and you finally see a bit of head bobbing and a lot of dad dancing.
Jess Glynne, who has been supporting them on their tour, makes an appearance for the grand finale and joins them in performing one of 2014’s biggest hits, 'Rather Be'. Her strong raspy vocals are on point, and this infectious Grammy-winner temporarily lifts everybody’s spirits - but rather than ending with a burst of energy, it brings the night to a very impromptu close.
You can’t fault Clean Bandit technically, but unfortunately they don’t have the back catalogue for such a long set or the confidence for such a huge crowd.
