A Tale of Two Concerts, Part II: Florence + the Machine

Introduction

This is second part of my two part series, A Tale of Two Concerts that started with my review of Otep, Blackguard, Sister Sin, Destrophy, and One-Eyed Doll. For this concert I road tripped up to Philadelphia with my friend Charlotte (Lady Charlotte’s House of Delirium). Florence + the Machine was my 2010 Artist of the Year and still one of my favorite artists, and I was very much excited about this show.

Preshow

                I was in a BAD mood before this show and for the life of me I cannot remember why, but whatever. Anyway the 3ish hour drive up wasn’t that bad, I was actually still relatively energetic when we arrived in Philadelphia. We stopped at Digital Ferret which is a gothic/industrial music store. I was on the phone arguing with a friend, but I kept interrupting our argument with awesome shit I was finding (special edition of Alien Vampire’s Fuck Off and Die for instance). There were Autumn Tears and Suicide Commando shirts, Siouxsie and the Banshee’s, Bauhaus and pretty much anything else you could want. Of course this being the second concert I’d been to in 3 days I was pretty broke and not looking to spend much money (there are exactly one metric fuckton of tolls between College Park, MD and Philadelphia, PA, fyi)

                After we left we headed down to Pat’s King of Steaks which I swear has gotten more expensive. As per usual I grabbed a provolone wit, plus fries which I always forget aren’t that good at Pat’s. Anyway the food was good and we decided instead of anymore exploring we would head down to the venue about an hour before doors which turned out to be a brilliant decision because the line was super long. Parking was like, $20 which further worsened my mood but I still managed to pull out some excitement to see Florence + the Machine.

                Waiting for the show there were some decent views of the water. I spent most of my time in line considering what life would be like on a boat with the freedom to float where you please, or nowhere at all, and yes, if I spent as much time thinking about how to make money as I do thinking about stuff like that, I’d be filthy rich.

Act I: Twin Shadow

                Ok, so after a bit of time in line the doors opened and the show was about to start. Charlotte & I actually got decent placement with a good view of the stage. It was an excellent outdoor venue (my second of the year) but I was still blah. I recall not enjoying Twin Shadow’s opening song, but as their tracks built in tempo I allowed myself to have a little fun and by the end I actually thought they had put on a very good show. I really enjoyed their song "When We're Dancing".  They had a fun stage presence overall, on a better day I would have enjoyed them more.

Intermission

Holy crap there was a long wait between acts with nothing to do. Nothing really happened during this wait period, except the smell of marijuana became fairly prominent. There wasn’t anywhere to really move to since the standing room only crown was difficult to navigate but hey, that’s how it is sometimes.

Main Act: Florence + the Machine

                After the crazy long delay Florence + the Machine came on stage and let me say this act was worth the wait. Florence Welch was beautiful, she’s mentioned in the past looking to the maenad from Greek mythology as inspiration for her style and it showed here. She made use of the outdoor venue and her flowing dress to appear as if she was gliding on stage.

                Aside from her look she was, vocally, Florence Welch is the best performer I’ve seen this year. Florence is the kind of singer who always sounds good, she was actually discovered while drunkenly singing in the bathroom at a party, and tonight was no exception. She got through most of the songs from Lungs as well as a few new songs including “Strangeness and Charm”. Everything about the new music was an expansion on the strong musical talents I have come to love about Florence + the Machine.

                After her initial set finished she happily obliged the audience with an encore which included “What the Water Gave Me” (which was a new song, especially good because we were on the water) and of course “Dog Days Are Over”. The amount of energy Florence + the Machine brings to the show is absolutely infectious and the crowd loved it, clapping, dancing, jumping, and singing along the whole way through.

                As of right now, my favorite show of the year has still been the amazing Otep, Sister Sin, Destrophy, One-Eyed Doll, Blackguard show, but this was still an incredible experience. I was very excited to see Florence + the Machine perform for the first time and I cannot wait for the chance to see her again. When I talked about her as Artist of the Year I mentioned that over exposure could allow this artist’s music and message to be lost, and while I stand by that statement I think Florence has done an amazing job of proving me wrong. She has managed to maintain her image and talent while gaining a good amount of mainstream appeal, and if her new songs are telling of what’s to come from her in the future then I cannot wait for the next chapter in this incredible band’s career. 

For more about Florence + the Machine visit

• http://florenceandthemachine.net/
• http://www.last.fm/music/Florence%2B%252B%2BThe%2BMachine