12 May 2014 (gig)
12 May 2014
On Friday night, we hit the Shepherds Bush Empire to catch band of the moment - Clean Bandit. Having seen them a few times before, I knew one thing was for sure... we'd be in for a good night!
Before 'the bandits' hit the stage, we were given a performance by Javeon, the three man group who also have three tracks to their name including my personal favourite 'Give Up'. The group performed a great set and I'm looking forward to see how their music develops in the future.
Clean Bandit, the four-piece classical/dance troupe who are all Cambridge university graduates, have caused quite a storm since they came onto the scene. Some might say their music is both confused and at the same time brilliant and the reason for this is that they use classical instruments alongside samples and dance beats. It does however, work incredibly well and that is only enforced by the fact that Friday was a sold-out show.
Comprised of cellist Grace Chatto, drummer Luke and his brother Jack Patterson on decks and violinist Milan Neil Amin-Smith, they also had the incredible vocalists Elisabeth Troy and Florence Rawlings join them on stage. Both ladies have powerful and impressive voices as well as some great moves!
The very first song I ever heard from Clean Bandit quite some time ago was 'A&E' and I quickly added it to my Spotify playlist, long before I really knew who the band even were. So, it was quite fitting that they opened with 'A&E' on the night, much to the pleasure of the audience and we were all then launched into a Clean Bandit party!
Guest vocalist Ssegawa Ssekint joined the band on stage for another favourite - 'Mozart's House', which got the crowd going even more crazy! The night was ended on none other than their number one hit 'Rather Be' which originally features the wonderful Jess Glynne. As soon as the violin began to play the intro, the night reached it's climax, with the crowd getting exactly what they came for.
Clean Bandit certainly entertained and are great at getting the crowd to enjoy themselves; overall a top Friday night!
