Band Of Horses – Koko, London 26/02/08

So I’d never been to Koko’s in Camden before. What a lovely venue. I’d heard plenty of grievances about poor sound, but none of that was in evidence tonight as the NME Awards Shows hit the capital. Tonight’s line-up saw the relative new comers of MGMT, followed by the more established Sons & Daughters and finally, headlining, the wondrous Band Of Horses.

First up was the retro-rock of MGMT. I’ve still not made my mind up about these youngsters, but there’s definitely something there. The awesome single ‘Time To Pretend’ will go down as one of the tracks of the year, but there rest of the songs tonight failed to live up to that heady height. They quite often fall into the dirge of classic rock pedalled by outfits that most of the people in the audience would normally love to hate. The question is, will they be given a chance to develop?

A band that has been given plenty of chances, including by myself, are Sons & Daughters. The perennial support act, I’ve seen them at this level three times previously and they’ve always failed to impress. Tonight is no different. Shorn of the studio trickery that makes their latest album listenable, their set comprises of three chord stomps that rarely elevate out of the dirge. Adele Bethel was “dressed” in a very revealing outfit, no doubt trying to look sexy and sultry. However, she came across more like your mad, drunk Aunt at a Wedding, prowling the stage looking deranged. I think it might now be time for them to give up and try something different.

So after that intriguing set of warm-up acts for the evening, how were Band of Horses going to cope with the headline slot? Well, after the opening barrage of ‘Is There A Ghost?’, any doubts were quickly lost. Ben Bridwell is grooming BoH to become one of the finest rock acts currently playing live. Most of their songs have taken on anthemic qualities, the crowd singing and swaying along. Bridwell is still the nicest man in rock, his quietly spoken interludes frequently ended in his southern drawl and “Y’all”. Their back catalogue also throws up some changes in their formula too. The fantastically lush ‘The First Song’ crashes around, the pedal steel sounding like a thousand guitar strings being sacrificed, whilst the crackling riff of ‘Islands on the Coast’ ripples across the crowd. There are also some wonderfully agricultural counts and foot stomps counting the waves of guitars throughout the songs, Bridwells infectious optimism is catching and I find myself constantly smiling.

Whilst some people will find BoH a little derivative, Bridwell has set them up as a good time Rock ‘n Roll band and have made no bones about it. Tonight is proof positive that these guys could be huge. They’ve got the songs, they’ve got the attitude and tonight they’ve got the most important thing; the audience.

Photos by Valerio Berdini