From the day Touché Amoré released ’…To The Beat Of A Dead Horse’ in 2009, the band has endlessly been evolving and in their own right have established themselves as a band who can command a high headline stop and pack out larger venues. The show at The Haunt, in Brighton was a prime example of this, seeing people squeeze their way to the front to get the best possible experience of the five-piece, which is incredible considering the first time TA ever played this city was at the Hydrant, So Brighton has witnessed the bands growth in front of its eyes.
Tonight was the first UK show on the bands extensive tour with Angel Du$t, and was the first night they were joined by Glasgow quintet Departures. Since the release of their latest record, ‘Death Touches Us, From The Moment We Begin To Love’, the band seem to have come on leaps and bounds. Their live performance seems to be a whole lot tighter and there is maybe more emphasis put into their live show. Sharing the stage with TA every night will no doubt do them a world of good. (3/5)
Angel Du$t, released one of my favourite records of 2016 in ‘Rock the Fuck on Forever’. So when the band burst on stage it was no surprise a handful of fans were at the front of the stage losing their minds singing every word back to vocalist Jurtice Tripp. With the four-piece gliding through their songs with no as much as a breath in between it was enjoyable to watch. However, the catchy hooks which initially drew me to Angel Du$t didn’t quite translate as well in a live setting, and seeing Tripp trying to “sing” when you are so used to see him being so aggressive (used to be the front man of Trapped Under Ice) it wasn’t quite the experience we were hoping for. (3/5)
When it comes to Touché Amoré there is only one word that can describe them – seamless. From the moment they kick started things with ‘Flowers and You’ all the way through to the encore of ‘Non Fiction’ the was not a note, beat or riff out of place.
Having recently released their fourth full-length, Jeremy Bolm and co now have an extensive back catalogue of material to choose from, and with an hour set they hit the nail on the head with song choices. Yes it was a little ‘Stage Four’ heavy, but that is the album the are promoting, and some of the material on that album is the best stuff the band has ever produced in my opinion. Songs like ‘New Halloween’ and ‘Rapture’ also went down extremely well with the crowd, who were invested from the first riff.
But it was classics like ‘And Now It’s Happening In Mine’ and ‘Pathfinder’ which really got bodies flying in the crowd and you could see Bolm’s infectious smile gleaming with pride.
As mentioned, Brighton is a city Touché Amoré have visited on several occastions there may be a sense of “have I seen this all before”, but for a band who play an hour long set so effortlessly and are clearly having so much fun, and have so much passion in their music then people will be returning for an eighth, ninth, tenth and however many more times they are in the UK to witness the live TA experience. (5/5)
4/5
Words by Tim Birkbeck. Photos by February Photography and taken at O2 Academy, Birmingham – 22/02/2017.
