Review: Florence and the Machine, The Olympia, Dublin
Thursday December 10 2009
IT has been quite a year for English female debutantes, with Little Boots, La Roux and VV Brown making quite a splash. None of them have had quite the impact of Florence Welch, however, who, together with her band the Machine, has delivered an album, 'Lungs', that has enjoyed healthy sales, glowing reviews and comparisons to Kate Bush and PJ Harvey.
Tonight, in front of a sold out, expectant crowd, Welch has little trouble rising to the occasion. A tall, barefoot vision in a black, floaty frock and flame red hair, the 23-year-old betrays a confidence that belies her youth.
It helps that she's in possession of such good songs. 'Kiss With A Fist' and 'Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)' both sound utterly vital, while the pounding 'Drumming Song' rouses the last seated person to their feet.
In the charisma stakes, Welch leaves most of her peers for dead. Midway through a rousing performance of 'Dog Days Are Over', she asks the standing crowd downstairs to sit on the floor. After a little coercion, everyone obliges, and when she gets to the song's crescendo, she urges them to leap up and jump about which they do with considerable abandon.
And later, after pointedly knocking back a pair of whiskies, she scales the speakers and somehow manages to access one of the private boxes. And it's there that she continues to perform. Her manager stands anxiously beneath -- the only person not enjoying the spectacle.
Over the course of 90 minutes, Welch and her band go for broke, but not always with the desired results. Sometimes, the performance is just a little too rambunctious and the gig suffers as a result. But she has some surprises, not least when 'I'm Not Calling You A Liar' is stripped back to its core with a non-shouty Florence beautifully accompanied by acoustic guitar and harp.
It's a welcome change of tempo, although it makes you long for more songs to be arranged in a similar fashion in order to provide some light relief from the bombast.
- John Meagher
Irish Independent
