Apparently it was the first time something like this had been attempted. Which is kind of hard to believe. Surely someone had the idea to put on a gig in the dark before. Nevertheless this was the claim promoted by the organisers of Pitch Black: a sponsored, competition winners only event starring St Albans’ band Friendly Fires.
The secret location turned out to be Viniopolis, the wine tasting venue under the arches at London Bridge. At the allocated hour, having munched on mini hamburgers, cocktails sausages and misshapen fish fingers dipped in mushy green peas (seriously delicious) and consumed the free beer, the audience was ushered into an auditorium lined with clear Perspex chairs.
An announcement gave people the opportunity to scarper if they found the dark room test run too much to handle. Turns out Pitch Black wasn’t quite what they gave us but it was still disconcerting when all the lights went down and unlike being at a normal gig or the cinema, compensating stage lights did not come on.
One of the main demands from the promoters was that everyone, for reasons of safety, remain in their seats throughout the performance. Staff would be monitoring events with night vision goggles – the same as the band would be wearing – to make sure no one violated this rule.
It was a fair enough request given the circumstances but as soon as Friendly Fires started blasting their funky synth pop into the gloom, you immediately felt that this was the wrong band to book for such an event.
Sitting in your seat, barely able to make out the shape of the person seated in front of you, hearing music coming at you from the scattered speakers, you want to try and completely zone into the aural. It should be easy given the lack of visual sensation but ultimately Friendly Fires are a band that make you want to dance, and stuck in your see-through chair, unable to see, you feel quite hemmed in by the fact you can’t.
So you start to hear their songs a little differently. Jump In The Pool, Skeleton Boy and In The Hospital are all good: bursting with percussion and effects, drenched in feel-good horns and sung with unerring quality by the unseen Ed Macfarlane. But in the disconcerting dark you begin to question whether there is a band at all. Maybe it’s all just a backing tape and if so, does it matter, given you can’t see the band anyway.
Before the gig I had hoped there would be no curtain-raising moment and we would leave the venue without ever catching sight of the band. It seemed like a naturally surreal course for this odd event. But when the lights did come on there is only a sense of relief that finally we could properly enjoy an excellent live act.
It probably helped that this part of the show coincided with the band’s best music. The first half of the show was generally good, but at their most mediocre Friendly Fires sound like Level 42 backed by The Dap Kings. Now with illumination, they are blasting out the heavy funk of On Board and the live brass duo and multiple percussionists are all the funkier for being visible. The brilliant single, Paris, follows and one devil-may-care girl gets to her feet and dances. By the end the whole crowd is standing and applauding, remaining so for the final track Ex-Lover.
Music is by its nature an aural medium. But a live show is about filling all your senses, from the sight of band on stage, the smell of sweat, the taste of beer and the touch of other people. Deliberating depriving one of the senses is a gimmick that doesn’t work.
Perhaps though the organisers chose the wrong band. A gig in the dark should involve music with a dark side. Friendly Fires are far too much fun with the lights on.
Comments
Post a Comment