Either Local Natives fans are so enthusiastic that they are ready to spill in through the doors as soon as they open, or tonight’s support bands, Cloud Control and Summer Camp, already have a veritable army of followers of their own.
Whichever it is, London Forum is nigh on packed by 7.45pm for this evening’s gig, and an entertainingly intelligent opening from Cloud Control, followed by an equally entertaining collection of 70s photographs as visuals accompanying Summer Camp’s set, keep the ever-swelling numbers happy until the main event.
When their turn comes, Local Natives are greeted warmly by the crowd and respond in kind, arms aloft and looking every inch the band who have constantly and successfully toured for the last 18 months, and know that this is their last night of work before a long and well-earned break.
That said, the start of the set seems tentative. There are 12 songs to choose from on opening album ‘Gorilla Manor’ (all of them eventually getting an airing here tonight), and there isn’t a bad one among them, and yet for some reason during an opening of ‘Camera Talk’, and even followed by the usually stand out ‘World News’, it seems to take a while for band and crowd to click.
Perhaps due to the belief they have in choosing it as a recent single, the moment finally comes with ‘Wide Eyes’, its scattergun drums showing that there might be a large geographical distance between their Los Angeles home and Yeasayer’s Brooklyn base, but musically they’re much closer together.
From there band and audience are as one, the Radiohead-esque intro and soaring vocal harmonies of ‘Shape Shifter’ looking like a set-stealing contender, were it not for the barrage of quality tunes still to come.
The Arcade Fire comparisons appear mostly based in the constant instrument-swapping, but strains of Fleet Foxes and the rhythmic energy of the aforementioned Yeasayer aside, Local Natives are a band with a brand all their own, and one shot through with songcraft. ‘Airplanes’ and a rousing ‘Who Knows Who Cares’, which could vie with Elbow’s ‘One Day Like This’ as string-laden anthems go, close the main set, but the Forum want the band’s last shift to run into overtime, and demand them out for more.
Not having a bad song on your album pays dividends at the encore, and as heavy with stand out tracks as the preceding set was, there is still the opportunity to close with the excellent ‘Stranger Things’, followed by a frenetic ‘Sun Hands’, allowing them to lose themselves on stage one last time before the holiday begins.
On this evidence there’s every chance the downtime will produce another batch of songs as good as the first, and if it does, there are at least a couple of thousand souls here tonight that will be back again to see it.
When their turn comes, Local Natives are greeted warmly by the crowd and respond in kind, arms aloft and looking every inch the band who have constantly and successfully toured for the last 18 months, and know that this is their last night of work before a long and well-earned break.
That said, the start of the set seems tentative. There are 12 songs to choose from on opening album ‘Gorilla Manor’ (all of them eventually getting an airing here tonight), and there isn’t a bad one among them, and yet for some reason during an opening of ‘Camera Talk’, and even followed by the usually stand out ‘World News’, it seems to take a while for band and crowd to click.
Perhaps due to the belief they have in choosing it as a recent single, the moment finally comes with ‘Wide Eyes’, its scattergun drums showing that there might be a large geographical distance between their Los Angeles home and Yeasayer’s Brooklyn base, but musically they’re much closer together.
From there band and audience are as one, the Radiohead-esque intro and soaring vocal harmonies of ‘Shape Shifter’ looking like a set-stealing contender, were it not for the barrage of quality tunes still to come.
The Arcade Fire comparisons appear mostly based in the constant instrument-swapping, but strains of Fleet Foxes and the rhythmic energy of the aforementioned Yeasayer aside, Local Natives are a band with a brand all their own, and one shot through with songcraft. ‘Airplanes’ and a rousing ‘Who Knows Who Cares’, which could vie with Elbow’s ‘One Day Like This’ as string-laden anthems go, close the main set, but the Forum want the band’s last shift to run into overtime, and demand them out for more.
Not having a bad song on your album pays dividends at the encore, and as heavy with stand out tracks as the preceding set was, there is still the opportunity to close with the excellent ‘Stranger Things’, followed by a frenetic ‘Sun Hands’, allowing them to lose themselves on stage one last time before the holiday begins.
On this evidence there’s every chance the downtime will produce another batch of songs as good as the first, and if it does, there are at least a couple of thousand souls here tonight that will be back again to see it.
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