Royal Blood, the two-piece band from Brighton, were in Toulouse yesterday for a stormy show just after annoucing the successor to the Typhoons era. The guys delivered an impeccable show and swept the crowd away with a solid set that included all their bangers.
Mike Kerr and Ben Thatcher were playing at The Bikini, an iconic venue in Toulouse. This gig was part of a handful of surprise shows announced while the guys are currently opening in stadiums for Muse. Please bands who will read this piece, do it more often, it will be appreciated, thx. Here’s our review of the show.
The Gig
The gig began with the opening act, Emilie Zoé, a rock band that won the best artist prize at the Swiss Music Awards 2020. They alternated between nervous punk tunes and soft ballads but none really stole our hearts.
Then Royal Blood took the stage and the crowd went instantly frantic. As a two piece, we were really intrigued to see how they’ll manage to sound as powerful as in the studio records. We were astonished: even if the support of a keyboard player is appreciated for a few songs, the duo performed their tunes effortlessly. Every song was flawless and the communication between these two musicians is so smooth you’d think they use ultrasounds.
Ben Thatcher is quite the taciturn. He, however, lets his drumsticks speak on his behalf and the result is a masterclass. Mike Kerr is both charming and enigmatic and you can tell his here to slay. At some point in the gig, he encouraged a mosh pit and created an epic human maëlstrom in the venue. The guy is one of the best bass players we’ve ever seen. The fact he sings too, and quite beautifully, made him the real center of the show. Unlike The Kills who have a yin-yang chemistry, Mike is the one that really stands out.
It’s hard finding drawbacks to this gig but still, here are our two cents about it :
- Even if the scenography was beautiful, it was quite hard for the band to take advantage of the stage and the overall seemed a bit empty.
- The band’s sound is so heavy it overrules the band members. They’re almost too talented for their own good. As they achieved success since the very first album, maybe it’s a Too Big Too Soon situation.
Anyway. These two guys are no extravagant showmen, but they owned perfectly the stage and delivered a top-class gig.
However, and we’re very sorry to say it, as much as we love the songs, it missed the spark that turns a great gig into a terrific one. Royal Blood has so much potential and this is very exciting news for the future!
Mountains at Midnight is gonna be huge, we’re certain of it.
The Setlist
Here are the tunes Mike and Ben played last night :
Hole
Come on Over
Boilermaker
Lights Out
Mountains at Midnight
You Can Be So Cruel
Trouble’s Coming
Typhoons
Loose Change
Little Monster
How Did We Get So Dark?
Limbo
Ten Tonne Skeleton
Figure It OutEncore :
All We Have Is Now
Out of the Black
The shots
Feast your eyes with these fantastic concert shots.
