Music / Reviews
Review: Miles Kane, O2 Academy – ‘Merseyside melody maker returns with a bang’
There are those gig reviews which don’t feel like a chore, even on a Monday night. Watching Miles Kane live certainly falls into that category.
What’s so special about it? Seeing Kane live is both a joy and a gratification, first because of the tautness of the set, and second, the unadulterated adulation of the audience, who burst into anthems of their own between songs.
Guitar strings bend the cleanest, riffs are the catchiest, vocals are the rawest, even the distortion is the neatest, with the overall sound as fresh as a newly minted coin.
While giving props to his Liverpudlian antecedents, he is his own man. He is friends with Alex Turner and Liam Gallagher, but he has carved his own identity in the UK’s indie rock scene with high-octane sets.
No stranger to Bristol, Kane’s return to the city was to promote his sixth studio album Sunlight in the Shadows at the O2 Academy.
After making his entrance onto the stage to the background music of John Lennon’s rendition of Stand By Me, Kane gave one downstroke on his black Gibson and played Electric Flower from the new album and set the tone for the evening, which quickly segued into the fan favourite Rearrange. The leopard-print inlaid set gave a roar and Bristol responded.
Troubled Son, one of the earlier songs which introduced Miles to the masses, was played with infectious, insistent riffs and high tempo, and had the crowd in their space. Inhaler, from his debut album, with its high-octane riff, was neatly segued into new material Without You, with a screaming distortion guitar line to prove he is still as fresh as when he released his much-acclaimed debut.
Miles Kane returned to Bristol to promote his sixth studio album Sunlight in the Shadows – photo: Milan Perera
My Love is definitely a throwback to the 1960s melody makers, and in contrast Blue Sky curiously had a Peter Green-esque heavy guitar line lifted by a thumping bassline. Without You was a ballad-like reverie, a sharp contrast to rock elements of the album.
But undoubtedly the biggest cheer of the night went to Coup de Grace. As the bass and drums swelled, with a short, sharp guitar intro, the crowd erupted. People who knew the lyrics by heart began singing or miming to Kane’s searing vocal lines and belted the chorus in unison, “Coup de grace, coup de grace, coup de, coup de”.
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Kane worked the crowd, walking the stage with his signature Joe Frazier swagger, and the audience lapped it up. After Sunlight in the Shadows from the new album bookended the show, preceded by Come Closer, it was the end of one energetic set.
If he wanted to test the waters on the reception of the new album, he needn’t have worried. It was a triumph.
Main photo: Milan Perera
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