The Upcoming
  • Culture
    • Art
    • Cinema
      • Movie reviews
      • Film festivals
    • Food & Drinks
      • News & Features
      • Restaurant & bar reviews
      • Interviews & Recipes
    • Literature
    • Music
      • Live music
    • Theatre
    • Shows & On demand
  • Fashion & Lifestyle
    • Accessories
    • Beauty
    • News & Features
    • Shopping & Trends
    • Tips & How-tos
    • Fashion weeks
  • What’s On
    • Art exhibitions
    • Theatre shows
  • Tickets
  • Join us
    • Editorial unit
    • Our writers
    • Join the team
    • Join the mailing list
    • Support us
    • Contact us
  • Interviews
  • Competitions
  • Special events
    • Film festivals
      • Berlin
      • Tribeca
      • Sundance London
      • Cannes
      • Locarno
      • Venice
      • London
      • Toronto
    • Fashion weeks
      • London Fashion Week
      • New York Fashion Week
      • Milan Fashion Week
      • Paris Fashion Week
      • Haute Couture
      • London Fashion Week Men’s
  • Facebook

  • Twitter

  • Instagram

  • YouTube

  • RSS

CultureMusicLive music

Scouting for Girls at the Royal Albert Hall

Scouting for Girls at the Royal Albert Hall | Live review
18 November 2013
Tom Yates
Avatar
Tom Yates
18 November 2013

Some venues and bands make for a perfect marriage. When a sound and performance meet the right setting, it can make for a memorable night. Just a few months ago Scouting for Girls played The Borderline, and in its jostling, sweaty confines their teenage-themed irreverence was harmless fun.

Thursday’s venue – the Royal Albert Hall, in all its enchanting opulence – was the perfect platform upon which their brand of whimsical indie pop could be delivered on a far grander scale. Unfortunately, on this stage the limitations of their sound are somewhat exposed.

The support comes in the shape of Loveable Rogues, who you’ll have already forgotten from Britain’s Got Talent 2012, and whose combination of rather bland acoustic strums and shouty vocals make for an uninteresting listen. But they certainly kindle enough cheers from those already present to shield themselves from a real shellacking.

Arriving to the sound of horns, Scouting for Girls wisely kick off with their trio of hits: Heartbeat, Summertime in the City and Millionaire. Clearly they have a lot of love for their audience and never tire of praising them for being the all-important “fifth band member”. Frontman Roy Stride makes a commendable effort, compensating for the increased stage size by upping the level of his onstage bounding, which even includes a hugely-cheered wander through the crowd.

Attempts to inject some originality into the set come in the shape of some all-acoustic renditions of their greatest hits, but it’s hard to see (and hear) what exactly this approach brings to the table. The result is that tunes like Famous and Rains in L.A. end up sounding a bit flat.

The band initially end the set with the piano-driven Keep on Walking and Without You before departing the stage momentarily. They return with Posh Girls (a song with a chorus that sounds a bit more tasteless with every listen), Michaela Strachan (a jokey ditty with a title lost on half the audience) and She’s So Lovely, which still sends people absolutely berserk with joy.

And yet for all the cheers and applause from the evidently satisfied fans, on this larger stage in an all-seated, multi-tiered hall, what a few months ago felt like lighthearted pleasure, tonight feels more like misjudged silliness.

Tom Yates
Photos: Helen Parish

For further information and future events visit Scouting for Girls’ website here.

Watch the video for Millionaire here:

Related Itemslive musicreview

More in Live music

Vienna New Year’s Day Concert at the Musikverein

★★★★★
Michael Higgs
Read More

Rufus, Martha and Lucy Wainwright Present: A Not So Silent Night “Virtually Together”

★★★★★
Francis Nash
Read More

Pete Tong and the Heritage Orchestra: Ibiza Classics – O Come All Ye Ravers at the O2 Arena Online

★★★★★
Dan Meier
Read More

Courtney Barnett live from the Royal Exhibition Building Melbourne

★★★★★
Georgie Cowan-Turner
Read More

Gorillaz: Song Machine Live

★★★★★
Sylvia Unerman
Read More

Andrea Bocelli at Teatro Regio di Parma Online

★★★★★
Dan Meier
Read More

Foy Vance: Hope in the Highlands

★★★★★
Georgie Cowan-Turner
Read More

Liam Gallagher: Down by the River Thames

★★★★★
Jonathan Marshall
Read More

Blossoms at Brixton Academy

★★★★★
Mae Trumata
Read More
Scroll for more
Tap
  • Popular

  • Latest

  • TOP PICKS

  • Jeremiah Fraites – Piano Piano
    ★★★★★
    Album review
  • Female filmmakers lead nominees for the London Critics’ Circle Film Awards
    Cinema
  • The White Tiger
    ★★★★★
    Cinema
  • We Still Fax at ANTS Theatre Online
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • We Ask These Questions of Everybody: An interview with Amble Skuse and Toria Banks
    Theatre
  • Identifying Features
    ★★★★★
    Cinema
  • 23 Walks
    ★★★★★
    Cinema
  • Live Lab at The Yard Theatre: An interview with associate director Cheryl Gallagher
    Theatre
  • We Still Fax at ANTS Theatre Online
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • We Ask These Questions of Everybody: An interview with Amble Skuse and Toria Banks
    Theatre
  • Identifying Features
    ★★★★★
    Cinema
  • We Still Fax at ANTS Theatre Online
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • WandaVision: Marvel’s charming sitcom proves an astounding success
    ★★★★★
    Cinema
  • The Queen’s Gambit: A chess story that’s not about the moves but the motives
    ★★★★★
    Cinema
  • Undercover at Morpheus Show Online
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
The Upcoming
Pages
  • Contact us
  • Join mailing list
  • Join us
  • Our London food map
  • Our writers
  • Support us
  • What, when, why

Copyright © 2011-2020 FL Media

Frozen | Movie review
Mucky Kid at Theatre503 | Theatre review