Liverpool o2 Academy 4th April 2013
Having heard The Good Natured songs on record but never actually seen them live I was apprehensive going into see the support band for the evening. Electro synth pop can be difficult to pull off in a large room which is half full due to the majority waiting for the headline act, but they pulled it off with aplomb.
Sarah McIntosh, looking fine in her figure hugging clobber plays the role of front woman brilliantly. She wouldn’t look out of place next to the likes Karen O or M.I.A when it comes to coolness and she demands the attention of the early comers wrapping her mic around her body and getting some floor wriggling action in. She is full of energy which seeps into the crowd and her spikey performance makes it’s easy to see how she has broken bones on previous outings.
Their latest single ‘5-HT’ sounded big and got nods of approval. As did ‘Be My Animal’ which McIntosh manages to make sound angelic and gothic at the same moment. The reactions to ‘Your Body is a Machine’ and ‘Lovers’ were very positive and their half an hour set was finished with ‘Skeleton’ which resulted in a rapturous applause from the now almost full venue.
Although the venue and size of the shows are some of the largest The Good Natured will have done to date they certainly did not look out of place and despite only having 3 members they certainly manage to make a good pulsating racket. They are a great band and hopefully they can push onto the next level. Keep your ears peeled for an inclusion of theirs on the next Gigslutz playlist.
There certainly seems to be buzz about Las Vegas rockers Imagine Dragons at the moment. They have had huge success in America including Billboard smash hits and appearances on the Jay Leno show. They should still be making their way in the UK, however after only a handful of shows last year and a couple of EP releases they are already filling mid-range size venues and their debut album ‘Night Visions’ riding high in the charts it shows they can be potentially huge on these shores.
And it’s the response from the crowd which is the take away moment of the show. The response suggests Imagine Dragons already have the UK in their grasp and as they turned the heat up to desert temperatures during ‘Hear Me’ and ‘It’s Time’ you’d be forgiven for thinking this was some kind of homecoming show.
Front man Dan Reynolds gets involved in some additional drumming during ‘Bleeding Out’ and demonstrates an almost faultless vocal performance. His moves are pretty shit though but you can’t have it all I suppose.
There is a slight lull in the set as Reynolds insists on showing off his vocal skills on ‘Lay Me Down’ but we are brought back up to speed as they pull out ace card ‘Radioactive’. The whole band seem to take immense pleasure in playing ‘Tiptoe’ which generates a huge mosh pit. I’m too old for all that so stay safely at the side of the room and sup the extortionately priced beer whilst the moshers instead ridiculously throw theirs all over the room during set ender ‘Nothing Left to Say’
Whether they have what it takes to follow the success of their Las Vegas counterparts such as The Killers remains to be seen but at this rate the next stop will be arena tours.
