The Beat Surrender

Feeling totally overdressed in our jeans (bikini’s and shorts would have been far more appropriate) for the tropical temperature that The Louisiana manages to soar to, our little group looked like we’d already seen all the bands and were ready to go home. But it was just the beginning of the night, and what a great start it got off too, thanks to Deaf Stereo the support act. We walked in as, ‘You Just’ was coming to an end and that was it, they had us. It may have had something to do with spotting the lovely looking Luke on lead vocals- at least two of us were mesmerised, phwoaaarrgh- but, thankfully their music was even better.

The four of us were part of a group of 6 who had a fantastic night the week before when we went to see Soulwax/2manydjs at Bristol Academy. And, in comparison we thought we’d be in for a disappointing evening, but how wrong could we be! Not only did we have something extremely pleasant to look at, but once Disconnected had got into full swing I turned to see my mate’s huge grin return. Blending beats and guitars, their energy was catching- doing a brilliant job of warming the crowd up ready for The Infadels to come on.

With everyone waiting in anticipation for them, their entrance certainly didn’t disappoint as they literally ran on stage and got straight on with it – hitting us with an explosive noise. It’s hard to define their sound, but you tell that they’re heavily influenced by The Chemicals Brothers, which is never a bad thing for me, so again rock meets electronic beats. Lapping up the electric atmosphere, Bnaan on lead vocals looked like he loved every moment of it- just watching his facial expressions made me feel worn out. His interaction with the crowd, kept everyone’s mood lifted and wanting more. I have to say that although Bnaan has huge stage presence, he didn’t overshadow the rest of the band, who seem an incredibly tight unit with complete control of the chaos they create.

Please accept my apologies for my lack of knowledge about the tracks they played, as I hadn’t really heard much of their stuff, and went to the gig on the recommendation of a friend. However, I can say we all enjoyed ‘ Can’t Get Enough’, ‘Jagger 67’ and the last song of the evening, ‘Brandon Vegas’, which saw Matt (guitar) take lead vocals.

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