By Declan Marron.
Large amounts of fans gathered on Sunday to witness the third Noah and the Whale (NATW) appearance at Whelans, this time touring the new album Last Night On Earth.
The indie folk Londoners certainly have a large Irish following, as the venue had sold out weeks in advance and it was completely packed. It proved a good chance for support act Benjamin Francis Leftwich to gain a few new fans. His basic acoustic set was more the type one would expect to hear from a mate in your sitting room than as a support for a relatively big band.
It was more of a pleasant backing sound as the audience talked amongst themselves while he played. Not even a pretty heartfelt cover of Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Atlantic City’ could grab their attention. Leftwich was enjoyable enough and certainly charismatic, joking that if interested he’s reachable on his Facebook, Myspace and Youporn accounts.
After a strange few minutes of a bit of a light show on the stage while trumpets covered Queen’s Bohemian Rapshody, sparking a mass audience sing along, NATW took to the stage. Elegantly dressed in suites, the band kicked off with the only single off of their second LP, Blue Skies.
After a couple of tracks it was clear that the first album classics such as Shape of My Heart and Rocks and Daggers made the biggest impacts, each one followed by a massive roar of appreciation from the incredibly excited audience. They even played a perfect rendition of one of the fan favourites, Jocasta thanks to many requests and revealed they hadn’t played it in two years.
What was peculiar however was that the folk factor seemed to have left their music. Even some oldies like Give A Little Love had a distinct indie rock sound. This may be disappointing to folk lovers but for anyone who attended it was quite surprising and exciting to see such energy in each track. This was aided by the brilliant lighting work that accompanied every track and the new hits like Life is Life and L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N which suited the mood.
Finally the band ended on an obvious but upbeat note with top single 5 Years Time much to the delight of their adoring crowd with some whistling along and others bouncing to the beat. It was truly an impressive display from the band and according to lead singer Charles Fink it was the band’s “best time” in Whelans.
