live music
live review
ELBOW
Motorpoint Arena, Cardiff, Tue 8 Apr
words PATRICIA O’SULLIVAN pic ERNESTO ROGATA
The hype for this gig was huge; Elbow fans really do hold the Lancashire
band in high esteem and have elevated them to proverbial national treasure
status. Elbow are the cuddly reliable bunch of lads you would see in the pub
for a pint and a laugh. Guy Garvey has an easy rapport with the fans and
their innovative live shows have helped to give them a whole army of fans
in the UK and abroad. All the while, though, their consistently top-selling
albums have showcased a band who remain true to their Lancashire roots –
no pretence here.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the band’s new album The Take Off And Landing Of
Everything is the basis for the set, which proves to be a coming together of
talent and magical harmonies. Yet while Real Life and New York Morning
are particularly memorable, it’s the older Seldom Seen Kid which has
the audience in raptures. The sell-out Motorpoint Arena is rewarded with
a most impressive light show, with the obligatory plumes of smoke an
interesting addition to the whole spectacle. The arena, an aircraft hangarlike space at the best of times, is made surprisingly intimate in the fact
of Elbow’s expansive sound, and the band’s well-trained sound engineers
certainly did them justice.
Elbow, renowned as a likeable bunch, go the extra mile and leave a good
feeling resonating long after the gig has ended.
Millennium Centre, Cardiff
Bay. 1pm, free. Info 029 2063
6464.
The Call Back Academy +
Threads Static Bar, Swansea.
6pm. Info 01792 467998.
tuesday 6
Al Lewis Aberystwyth Arts
Centre. 8pm, £6.25-£12.50. Info
01970 623232.
Capital City Jazz
Orchestra Dempseys, Cardiff.
8pm, £7/£5. Info 029 2023
9253.
Community Samba Band –
Practise Dates Westenders
Hall, Llanfaes, Brecon. 6-8pm,
£4/£2 under-16s. Info [email protected]. Every
Tuesday.
Florence Sitruk Royal Welsh
College Of Music & Drama,
Cardiff. 1.15pm, £8/£6. Info
029 2039 1391. Harpist.
Flowing Waters The Gate,
Cardiff. 7.30pm, £8/£5. Info
029 2048 3344. Featuring a
solo piano recital by Duncan
Honeybourne, plus the world
premiere of Flowing Waters
by
Luke Whitlock, and music by
William Mathias and Howard
Skempton.
Hearing Enchantment:
Music Through Theosophy