Blood Red Shoes 01.05.12
Blood Red Shoes
Cast of Cheers support Blood Red Shoes with a set that goes by in a flash of frenetic vocals and airtight beats. They run through a fairly lengthy set of songs that sound like The Vaccines with a bit more about them. Their enthusiasm and energy is refreshing for a genre that is so proudly melancholy and their lead single ‘Animals’ is a ready-made festival anthem. What’s so nice about Cast of Cheers is the fact that as they frantically wrist shake to achieve the right jangly sound, and as the drummer flicks his hair back and forth to merely keep up, it looks like they love doing and love doing it in front of people even more. They might have been going quite a while but Cast of Cheers clearly have an ear for a hook and an eagerness to share it.
The first of May is said to be the first day of summertime. It would appear Blood Red Shoes have taken it upon themselves to mark the occasion by doing what all good bands should do. Making lots of noise and making it sound good.
This band aren’t new and this certainly wasn’t a show for new ‘curious’ fans. The Blood Red Shoes partnership of Laura-Mary Carter and Steven Ansell dates back to 2004 and tonight they come on at 9.30PM sharp and embark on a show that celebrates those 8 long years of sleazy, makeshift but incomparably tight rock music. They open with older offering ‘It’s Getting Boring By The Sea’ and play through numerous old favorites like ‘Heartsink’ and ‘I Wish I Was Someone Better’ these are all met with cheers of fondness and some fairly committed singing along from the 8 year strong fan base. For a band of two people, the velocity is quite incredible with their track being so in sync it verges on looking mimed. This is a seasoned duo who have consistently released LP’s that are strong and compliment their live show. Latest studio offering, ‘In Time To Voices‘ is no different. They run through album tracks from that record such as ‘Lost Kids‘ and their wondrously anthemic lead single ‘Cold’. Often when all the songs merge in to one, a show is seen as repetitive but Blood Red Shoes managed to do it in such a way that their set was not a random mish-mash of 3 album’s work but more a carefully selected to make an evening of loud noise. Each heavy strum of cymbal crash is paired with a flashing bulb pulsating in front of an aptly Blood Red backdrop. This band have gotten really cool. It looks totally effortless and they are brining the church down with their weighty but indisputably refined rock and roll.
As they parade back on for the encore, Blood Red Shoes look like the kid you knew years ago from primary school who you meet again and they got way cooler. Their tracks are intimidatingly infectious and the vigor with which they hammer the songs out is a rare thing in modern live music. The stage is empty but lights are flickering behind the red backdrop. That kid from primary school is way cooler than you, and he’s not even trying.
Duncan Harris
