What a month it’s been for the Bell Centre! Packed out shows by Billy Talent, The Lumineers, Green Day, and now Bastille. Tonight isn’t quite as busy in terms of the crowd size; it’s kind of a mini Bell Centre setup, in that only the floor and the reds are open. What Bastille’s crowd may lack in terms of volume, they more than make up for in fervour. Upon arriving inside the venue, there is a line snaking 2 or 3 blocks from the merch table, before any bands have even played. Are Bastille themselves doing the Merch? Nope. Is it cheap? Nope (at least $40 for a shirt isn’t cheap in my book!). There’s really no obvious reason for such a line. Later, after the support band but before Bastille have even played, the line has gone… but so has the merch, except for a few items. Cleaned out before the headliner even plays! Incredible stuff. Clearly, these fans have been waiting for this for a long time.
First up tonight though, are Mondo Cozmo, the musical project of Philadelphia-born, LA-based artist Josh Ostrander. He proclaims “nous vous aimons!!” to the crowd off the bat, which unsurprisingly endears him to them, and Mondo Cozmo’s brand of rock and roll goes down well. So much so, in fact, that during the first chorus of Plastic Soul, a sea of lighters and phone lights bursts into life around the venue, which evidently floors Josh and the rest of band, so much so that after the song Josh exclaims “That was awesome, that was really nice of you to do that!” When he stops to take a picture of the crowd, the sea of lights go up again, and Josh waxes lyrical once more about how great that looks! He posted this picture on his Instagram page after the show too, it really did look cool… The lights return again for Shine, the breakthrough single currently doing the rounds on Sirius alternative channels, which concludes in an acapella style singalong, before the set finally wraps up after 40 minutes with a cover of Bittersweet Symphony. A great set, and certainly it seems Mondo Cozmo would be welcome back anytime.
After a fairly trippy introduction by a creepy newscaster on the video screens, the headliners arrive and promptly launch into recent single Send Them Off! The live footage of the show plays on the video screens like a live news report, following on from the News Anchor introduction. Laura Palmer sees frontman Dan Smith patrol the stage from one side to the other, intermittently hammering on a bass drum set up in the middle, before jumping around the stage furiously on Warmth and Snakes. On Flaws, he heads directly into the crowd, roaming right to the back block of seats opposite the stage, high-fiving everybody he passes, which serves to make everyone feel like they’re part of an intimate club show instead of the big ol’ Bell Centre.
The ballad Oblivion follows in the vain of Mondo Cozmo in eliciting a sea of lights across the crowd, before the pace picks back up with the brilliant Lethargy, with its stomping beat getting the crowd moving once again. The Draw sounds particularly spooky live, with just guitar, bass, and lots of smoke and distortion setting the scene before drums and strobe lights crash the party midway through to bring the song to an epic conclusion. Way Beyond was chosen for an airing by the fans as a result of a Twitter vote, and is followed by the familiar rumbling bass of Bad Blood, with red lighting across the stage bringing back the spooky vibe once more.
Dan patrols through the crowd once more on Blame, before setting himself up on a small podium near the sound desk at the back to incite the biggest dance party of the evening on Of The Night, a mashup of 90s pop hits Rhythm Is A Dancer and Rhythm Of The Night. He leads the crowd in crouching down low on the floor during the lead-up to the chorus, before jumping up and dancing for the chorus, arms aloft, and it makes for a real party atmosphere.
The creepy newscaster returns to the big screen to lip sync to Dan’s vocals on Fake It, before The Weight Of Living wins the award for brightest moment of the show, with a bright kaleidoscope of colours bathing the stage and a lot of the crowd in a rainbow of colours. After Glory, Dan asks “who’s ready to dance to the most deceptively happy-sounding sad song we’ve written??” After laughing with the crowd, Good Grief emphatically closes the main set.
After a brief pause, Dan and guitarist Will Farquarson appear in the aisle RIGHT NEXT TO ME, probably only around 5 seats away! Seriously, of all the rows in all the arena, they picked MY row! Awesome. Unsurprisingly, a minor stampede of girls rushes across me to get closer to the action as Dan and Will run through a wonderful stripped-down Two Evils. They re-join the band on stage for a stirring Icarus, before inviting Mondo Cozmo to join them on breakthrough single Pompeii to wrap up the show in deafening manner, as every last ounce of energy left in the crowd is spent hollering that trademark chant of “Ay, Ayo, Ayo, Ay, Ayo, Ayo!!” (or however that would be spelt).
After a fantastic 1 hour and 40 minutes, the bands, and the crowd, filter out while the creepy newscaster on the screen continues to address the room as it empties. A wonderful show, and a great end to arguably the best month of shows at the Bell Centre in many, many years.
Setlist
Send Them Off!
Laura Palmer
Warmth
Snakes
Flaws
Oblivion
Lethargy
Things We Lost in the Fire
The Draw
The Currents
Way Beyond
Bad Blood
Four Walls (The Ballad of Perry Smith)
Blame
Of the Night
Fake It
Weight of Living, Pt. II
Glory
Good Grief
Two Evils
Icarus
Pompeii
Review – Simon Williams
Photos – Ashley MacPhee & Simon Williams
