Shearwater had been on my gig hitlist for some time now as their latest album 'The Golden Archipelago' managed to blow me away and I really wanted to see how Jonathan Meiburg could hold down his powerful vocals could live. Fortunately he is just as talented live as he sounds on cd as are the rest of the band and tonight's show was a real benchmark into just how excitingly chilling they can be.
First on was David Thomas Broughton, a man whose loop based comedy acoustics can be known to really engage a crowd in more intimate venues but tonight I felt the novelty of his act was lost somewhat in the vast space the Scala had to offer, he also seemed to have a few technical problems which left me wanting to head straight to the bar. There is definitely something interesting there but I don't feel he's capitalised on it enough yet.
Most of Shearwater's set was a showcase from their latest album, now in some cases I think a lot of fans would hate how much a band had concentrated on the new material but with an album as strong as The Golden Archipelago I shouldn't imagine a single person was complaining. 'Meridian' was met with huge applause as was the epic 'Castaways' with the band seemingly switching instruments every song when they did delve into their already heaving back catalogue it took the gig to the next level with fans watching in awe of the immense spectacle, I even saw one couple both in floods of tears (hopefully this was actually to do with the show.)
The better known songs ‘Leviathan, Bound’ and 'Rook' got an amazing live treatment showcasing the beauty and fragility of a band that really deserve to be selling out venues of this capacity.
Photos : Rob Hakimian
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