From the moment we stepped onstage this show felt special. An electric vibe in the room punctuated by familiar faces who had turned out to support for a second or third time among the many new faces, some whoâd travelled across the world to be there (we spoke to fans from as far afield as LA, New Jersey and Ohio).
Early nerves were fast replaced by feelings of ease, that confidence you have to be truly yourself among friends youâre sure will be forever rooting for you. Our set was long thought out, walking on to the building unnerving cacophony of âMean World Syndrome (Intro)â and starting the set with âLife Supportâ exactly mirroring the start of the new album. To feed the energy in the room in the early moments we followed up with âOriginsâ. I once heard that Rod Stewart had said âMake sure you grab âem by the balls in the first song and donât let go until youâre done with âemâŚâ and it always stayed with me, as it will you. Forgive his wording it was a different time and they were metaphorical balls.
At this point it's time for a scene change and an opportunity to greet the audience, this gives me a chance to move over to the piano for âAwakeâ and âThis Kind Of Heavyâ TKOH being a song that is an emotional hit to my core every time. I always come out of performing it feeling a little dizzy, like Iâve just come to after a fainting. Note to self; pairing together a song about my own battles with seasonal depression followed by a song about coming to terms with losing my friend - a virtuosic drummer who gave everything to every performance - may not have been the best self care move. Weâve put some thought into what we want our fans to take from our shows over the years, referencing some of the artists we love and borrowing from what they do best. You might go to a Coldplay show to feel optimistic about the world and energised by the colours and lights, to a Bon Iver show for cinematic moods, deep feelings and moving melodic soundscapes & to a U2 show for the epic spectacle. We want Belle Mt. shows to be a trip, where itâs possible have moments of elation followed by epiphany, maybe youâll even embrace some tears that have been waiting for the right moment to come. Weâre about feeling it all but that means weâre signing up to go on that emotional ride right alongside you.
As Leonard Cohenâs voice bellowed through the PA system ending âHydraâ âI think that everybody lives the life of the heart, and everybody knows what its like to er, to crack up, and I think we cherish that in our singers when they manifest that, those experiences in songâ Itâs almost like Cohen is speaking directly from the other side. I look up into the crowd to see lovers kissing & tears falling. This continues through âFeathersâ; whichever end of the emotional spectrum, a room full of people truly in the moment.
We like to use the full dynamics available to us within a headline set and the next section of âLoving Youâ & âHold Me Loveâ gradually strip it right back to the bare bones, the crowd join us singing âLoving Youâ, it never gets old to hear the words sung back to us. âThe Ashesâ and âThe Sun Swallows Us Wholeâ are the challenges of the set as weâve never played them live before. New songs always activate a level of peripheral panic and I tend to get through them with my brain perpetually telling me that Iâm about to forget a word or mess up a line, self talk thatâs guaranteed to become a self fulfilling prophecy, but not so much when being countered by the feeling in the room tonight, Iâm still largely at ease and convince myself that the bum note I played is a form of jazz. I love that TSSUW offers something entirely new live, a moment to step away from guitar and keyboard and just hold a mic and sing, even if just for one verse and chorus before the piano starts itâs like playing the gig on easy mode, I just have to remember to get the mic back on the mic stand before verse 2 starts, close call. We enter the last section of the set by lifting the energy with âThe Roadâ and âThe Waterâ and before we know it weâve reached the intro to the final song in which I forget to mention Patreon, I forget to mention this mailing list, I almost forget to mention that we even have a merch stand (when it comes to sales, Jeffery Bezos I am not). The last thing I said to the crowd before we began to play âHollowâ was that weâre about to play a cover of Wonderwall by Oasis, cue nervous laughter from the crowd. We finished the set, the photo above was taken, the card reader did not work on the merch stand but still we had great chats with great fans while signing posters and we left the show fully energised to get this album out to the world. If you were there we thank you for that!
As we left the venue âThe Lexingtonâ in the early hours of Thursday morning I thought of how itâs hosted the likes of Florence & The Machine, The XX & Wolf Alice on their ascension and how weâd happily take any of their trajectories from here on out. Iâm starting to believe that thereâs something in telling the universe your plans out loud and so in the next newsletter Iâll share my matured dreams and goals with you and the cosmos, Iâve had plenty of time to think about them and theyâve ever-changed since I was a 13 year old that wanted to be Robbie Williams, an 18 Year old that wanted to be Morrissey, and a 25 year old that wanted to be Thom Yorke đŞâ¨
Vinyl Pre-Order is going in this week. Weâre blown away by the amount of pre-orders so far and thereâs still time to get your own copy of the first editions below!
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Loved reading this so much đ I loved it from the audience side, so it's so good to hear your feelings and thoughts too đđ xx
Thanks so much for sharing the experience with us. Even as far away as Milwaukee, Wisconsin I can feel the energy and picture myself in the crowd and feeling all the feels. I would be crying throughout - cleansing tears. Youâre amazing. Thanks for sharing your gift and for being so vulnerable. Keep going!!!